BBC star Iain Robertson was 'violent alcoholic' who 'dragged woman by her hair', rape trial told

BBC star Iain Robertson was 'violent alcoholic' who 'dragged woman by her hair', rape trial told Ex-River City actor Iain Robertson is on trial for rape and multiple counts of assault on women over a 16-year period Actor Iain Robertson was a 'violent alcoholic' who was physically and emotionally abusive, a woman has said at his rape trial. The ex-River City star, who played drug-dealer Stevie O'Hara in the popular BBC soap, is alleged to have behaved in a “threatening or abusive manner” towards the woman on multiple occasions between December 2013 and July 2015. He has also been charged with assaulting her on two occasions in 2014. Robertson has also been accused of raping another woman “on various occasions” between 2018 and 2019, as well as offences involving two other women a 16-year period from 2004 to 2020. He has denied all the accusations against him. Giving evidence on the opening day of the trial, one of the actor's alleged victims told the High Court in Glasgow how she initially met Robertson in 2012 or 2013, just as she was finishing drama school. The actor, 45, was initially "quite charming," she told the court via video link, but his behaviour soon began to change. "His behaviour became quite controlling, emotionally controlling, manipulative," she said. "Over time that would escalate and there would be threats of physical violence and then eventually physically violence." The woman claimed Robertson often tried to "wedge her apart" from people she was close to, including her friends and mother, and would often try to "pick an argument" whenever she was due to meet them, she told the court. She also described him as a "violent alcoholic" and said he drank a lot throughout the course of their relationship. Whenever he was inebriated, he would address her in an "aggressive, disrespectful" manner, making her feel "awful," she told the court. He was also frequently "in and out" of Alcoholics Anonymous, the court heard. "He would call me a bitch, and he would just be derogatory," she said, describing his tone as "Harsh - like venom... Almost like you are spitting the words." She said in 2013 the pair had gone on holiday to a cabin in Moray, north-east Scotland, and Robertson "drank a lot throughout the whole trip". She recounted one occasion during the trip when they had been on their way to a tourist spot. "He was driving, we were in the car somewhere and he started shouting at me," she said. “I think it was over directions, he just flew off the handle and flung the car around.” She said she had been “really scared” as she was “trapped” in his car with him. “It was really obvious to me I was in a dangerous situation with this person, both in the car… but also in a wider sense in the relationship.” She recounted another incident the night before she was due to head to London for a photoshoot when Robertson become “threatening” and “aggressive” during an argument. “I was scared and something happened where I was cowering because I thought he was going to hit me,” she told the court. “When he saw that he said ‘if you think I am going to hit you then I will hit you’, and he lunged at me. “I fell on to the bed and had my hands and arms over my head.” She told the court he then left the room – but despite being “so afraid” she did not know how to get out of his flat, so she pretended to be asleep. She also recounted an incident in December 2014 when she said the pair had been having an argument and she had “ended up on the floor”. She told the court: “He dragged me by my hair from the bedroom out into the hall. “I was trying to make it stop, I was trying to grab on to anything to make it stop.” She said once he let go she stood up and told him “we are finished, it’s over”. The woman said she broke off the relationship in early 2015, when he reacted badly to her going out with new colleagues, and Robertson then sent her an “obsessive amount” of phone calls and texts, and later emails. The court was shown some of the emails, in which Robertson was apologising to her. Robertson’s lawyer Gary Allan KC put it to the woman that none of the emails describe what he is apologising for, which he said does not support her version of events. She accepted this, but said the “heightened” nature of the apologies match the “heightened” incidents for which he was apologising. The trial, before Lady Drummond, continues.