Wick man denies abduction
A WICK man has gone on trial charged with abducting a woman, locking her in a vehicle and driving from Inverness to Tain against her will.
George McPhee (47) of North Murchison Street, Wick denies the charge which allegedly took place on January 18, 2013 at Castle Street, Millburn Road and elsewhere in Inverness and at the Scotsburn junction, Tain while acting along with another unknown person assaulting Nicole Calder.
At the trial at Inverness Sheriff Court on Wednesday, the jury heard two women tell how they came across a young woman who was being dragged by a man towards a parked car near the Scotsburn junction near Tain.
Sharon Burns and her friend Nicola Hay said they watched what was happening after returning to Tain having gone for a walk near a local wood.
Ms Burns said there was a car parked in a slip road off the junction and there was one man at the wheel and the front passenger’s door was open.
Then they saw another man, who they identified in court as the accused George McPhee, who was dragging the woman through a gap in a wall towards the car.
Ms Burns said when they approached McPhee, they asked her if she was alright and he let the woman go.
She said the woman was distressed and crying and the two mums took her to Ms Burns’s house in Tain.
Cross examined by McPhee’s solicitor Ian Warburton she agreed she was not entirely sure what had been going on or what the relationship was between the two people. But they thought they had better intervene anyway.
Ms Hay said McPhee had his hands behind Ms Calder pushing her towards the car when they first saw them.
The trial will resume on Thursday.