Former lover alleges Janice Galloway ‘vendetta’

A CONCERT pianist who faces allegations he harassed a best selling author has claimed he is the victim of a vendetta by her.

Scottish author Galloway has brought charges against her ex-lover for harassment. Picture: TSPL

Graeme McNaught, 54, said the writer Janice Galloway had conspired to have him charged by police following a number of incidents.

Miss Galloway and McNaught had previously been in a relationship. They met in 1990 and had a six year on-off relationship during which their son James, 22, a London-based graphic designer, was born.

Miss Galloway later married opera singer Jonathan May and lives with him and her friend Alison Cameron at their home in Uddingston, Lanarkshire.

McNaught, of Mount Vernon, Glasgow, is on trial at Hamilton Sheriff Court and faces five charges of acting in a threatening and abusive manner and placing Miss Galloway in a state of fear and alarm. He has denied all the claims against him.

On Monday the court heard McNaught allege Miss Galloway, Mr May and Miss Cameron had plotted to have him arrested by police.

Giving evidence, he said: “There was a great deal of hostility in my direction from that household.

“When I went to the door to see James the police were being set upon me.

“There are people around the same dining room table who have been combining a court case against me.

“On one of the occasions when I was at the door I saw Janice through the window, knitting and smiling.

“The smile was suggestive of a woman who thought things are going really well.

“Not all the evidence is reliable. They might want me in bother, they might have rotten memories.

“I have known Janice to tell untruths quite a lot.”

McNaught admitted that he had turned up at Miss Galloway’s home unannounced on a number of occasions.

However, he blamed his impulsive behaviour on being diagnosed with bi-polar disorder.

He said: “People have been very confused about the workings of my brain and I ended up with the diagnosis bi-polar disorder, which may or may not be the case.

“I have been on medication for the last 20 months and it doesn’t seem to have done me any harm.

“There is a tendency amongst people with the disorder for bizarre and impulsive behaviour which may explain it.

“It’s in my medical records and the fact it’s there may explain some things for the ladies and gentlemen of the jury which are puzzling.”

McNaught also told how he had wanted to pursue legal action after seeing an interview Miss Galloway gave on television with broadcaster Richard Holloway.

He added: “There was an interview Richard Holloway did with Janice where she said that she had to get rid of the father of her son because he had episodes of senselessness and refused to take medication.

“She named me and I believed I was defamed in that interview. I visited a lawyer about that and certain things she had written in her literature.”

The trial before Sheriff Ray Small continues.