THE co-owner of Glasgow’s popular Yes Bar was told by a sheriff she had “suffered enough” after she admitted pushing her husband and business partner on the chest.
The incident happened when Suzanne McLaughlin, 48, met her estranged husband, Jim, at the Ubiquitous Chip bar in Ashton Lane. The court heard he was waiting for his wife at the bar, drinking a pint of Guinness and a large whisky.
Their conversation became heated and she pushed him, causing him to “flinch back”. McLaughlin, who it was heard is a trained fighter, reported the assault eight days later.
Today at Glasgow Sheriff Court, McLaughlin wept as she admitted pushing Mr McLaughlin on November 8 last year at the west end bar.
Sheriff Lindsay Wood commented to the fiscal: “He’s six foot two, a trained fighter and she is being prosecuted for pushing him, with no injury.”
He told McLaughlin: “You have suffered enough, I am granting an absolute discharge.”
This means that she will have no criminal record.
The court was told McLaughlin, a part-time air hostess, went to meet her husband to discuss businesses that they shared and the ongoing separation. But during their “heated” discussion, McLaughlin pushed him with her elbow and forearm before he left the pub. He contacted the police on November 16 to report the matter.
Defence lawyer Aamer Anwar told the court: “On the day of the incident it had come to the attention of my client that her husband had allegedly committed fraud and had gone online and transferred the Yes Bar Ltd companies from her name to his. This was one of the reasons that the meeting took place. She managed to reverse this after being informed by their business accountant.”
He claimed his client also received a notice that day to leave her house as Mr McLaughlin had not paid the rent.
The lawyer told the court that when she arrived she saw her estranged husband drinking and commented that he should not be drinking because he was due to pick up their daughter.
He added: “He told her she couldn’t stop him and she told him it was dangerous but he just wouldn’t listen and as he got up she pushed him back to stop him. She was still trying to argue he was over the limit.
“She is full of remorse for having acted in the manner, she wishes she had controlled her temper and simply walked away or told the police.”
Mr McLaughlin did not pick up their daughter that evening.
He said: “Her marriage broke down at the end of January 2017 after being in a relationship for 10 years then marrying in 2013. She finally left her husband after several years of alleged abuse at the hands of her husband.
“We understand that Mr McLaughlin is a trained fighter and during the latter years of their marriage had become emotionally controlling. The threat of violence was implicit throughout the relationship.”
Since the couple separated, the court heard that McLaughlin had continued to abuse his wife.
The court was told that in October 2017 he was “verbally abusive” and that he would do “whatever it would take to take control, sell the business and destroy her”.
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