Track star Liz McColgan accused of beating up husband

LIZ McColgan, the Scottish athletics legend and former BBC Sports Personality of the Year, appeared in court yesterday accused of attacking her estranged husband and hurling his clothes out of the window of the family home.

The Dundee-born track star and mother of five stood in the dock at Arbroath Sheriff Court to deny charges of repeatedly punching her husband Peter, a former Irish athlete, on the head and body at the couple's Victorian home near Carnoustie.

McColgan, 47, also denied causing fear and alarm during the alleged incident on 12 July by throwing clothes down the stairs and out of a window. She is due to stand trial on 21 November.

McColgan and her husband, a former international steeplechaser, married in 1987 and have five children. They announced their separation last November but continued to live in the family home, which is also the base for their fitness club business.

McColgan appeared at Arbroath Sheriff Court yesterday morning before Sheriff Derek Pyle, wearing a black top and grey trousers.

She spoke only once during the brief hearing to confirm her name.

She was accused of repeatedly punching Peter McColgan on the head, punching him on the body and prodding him on the body to his injury on 12 July at the family home at Panbride House, near Carnoustie.

She also faced a further charge that, on the same date, she behaved in a threatening or abusive manner, by shouting and repeatedly throwing clothes down the stairs and throwing clothes out of a window.

Her lawyer, Gary McIlravey, said his client denied the charges. Mr McIlravey told the court: "My client appears on an undertaking. She pleads not guilty to the charges."

Sheriff Pyle set a trial diet for 21 November with an intermediate diet on 1 November. McColgan declined to comment as she left the courthouse alone.

Widely acknowledged as Scotland's best ever middle distance runner, McColgan became a household name when she won a gold medal in the 10,000 metres at the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh in 1986 and then took silver for Great Britain over the same distance at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul.