A top Scottish solicitor has been cleared of assaulting his wife who had an affair with a former personal trainer of the likes of Emma Bunton and Cherie Blair.
Property lawyer Alexander Hutcheon went on trial last month accused of three charges, including attacking his partner Nicola at their home in Aberdeen’s upmarket Rubislaw Den South.
The 58-year-old was also accused of two counts of racially abusing his wife’s lover Steven Agyei.
Today Hutcheon’s defence agent made a submission that there was no case to answer on any of the charges.
Sheriff Janys Scott agreed the Crown had failed to prove his guilt on two of the charges, but he still faces a charge of acting in a racially aggravated threatening manner at the Noose and the Monkey pub in Aberdeen on January 19 this year.
Aberdeen Sheriff Court previously heard evidence from Mr Agyei, who was previously a fitness coach to celebrities including Spice Girl Emma Bunton and ex-prime minister Tony Blair’s wife Cherie Blair.
He claimed he met Hutcheon’s wife in May last year at a charity event at the city’s Malmaison Hotel and within a week, she had left her husband and started a relationship with him.
Mr Agyei also told the court that over the last year he had been subjected to racial abuse from the solicitor, prompting him to go to the police with demands Hutcheon should be prosecuted – even consulting with Mrs Blair about the matter.
The court heard that when no action was taken Mr Agyei set about trying to get “corroborated evidence” to “bring Alex down”.
This morning solicitor-advocate George Mathers said “penniless Mr Agyei” had been intent on destroying his client before taking all his cash.
Giving evidence, Mrs Hutcheon said she was no longer in a relationship with the personal trainer and admitted supporting him financially for most of the last year.