Lawyers for Scots tycoon Mary Gorman want case dropped

LAWYERS for a Scottish tycoon who was arrested in a Florida nightclub for striking a police officer and possessing cocaine want the case against her dropped, a court has heard.

Mary Gorman, 44, is facing up to 11 years in jail over the incident in the toilets of the Orlando club last August, in which she was allegedly caught performing a sex act on another man while her millionaire husband Chris, the founder of The Gadget Shop chain, watched.

But Mark Horwitz, Gorman’s US-based attorney, yesterday told Orange County judge Mike Murphy that the charges against his client, from Bridge of Weir, Renfrewshire, had no merit.

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“I anticipate filing a motion to dismiss and maybe a motion to suppress [evidence],” he said, adding to reporters later that the move could come any time before the next scheduled hearing set by Judge Murphy for 30 May.

Gorman was to have faced trial on 2 April on two counts of possessing a controlled substance and battery on a law enforcement officer, and a lesser charge of possession of drugs paraphernalia.

The judge said yesterday that witness statements scheduled to be taken last week were not completed and that he was postponing the case again.

He acknowledged that Gorman would have to travel from the UK and set a new projected trial date of 11 June to allow all parties time to prepare fully.

A dismissal motion from Mr Horwitz would be his latest attempt to ensure that his client avoids an embarrassing trial and possible prison time.

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