9:07 am, February 4, 2025
A messy argument over a mobile phone resulted in an Arnold Clark being brutally assaulted at work by his ex girlfriend and her family, a court has heard.
Demi Leigh Coyle, 30, carried out the vicious attack on her unnamed former boyfriend, following a dispute at Arnold Clark’s used car centre in Greenock back in August 2021.
She was joined in the skirmish by her older brother James Coyle Jr, 32, and her father James Coyle Sr, 51, both of whom later pleaded guilty to assault.
However, Ms Coyle, of Garvald Street, Greenock, continued to maintain her innocence and last week stood trial for the incident at Greenock Sheriff Court.
Sheriff Anthony McGeehan heard that Ms Coyle had been in a relationship with the complainer for around six months, prior to the attack.
On the day in question, the court was told that the jilted lover physically attacked her ex and one of his colleagues.
She was also accused of making verbal threats towards her former boyfriend as well as shouting, swearing and acting aggressively towards him.
The court was told that, along with her father and brother, she seized the victim by the body, before he was head butted and repeatedly punched, the Greenock Telegraph reports.
Greenock Sheriff Court (PA Images)
In her defence, Ms Coyle claimed that her former partner had taken her phone during an argument earlier that day and returned to work at the dealership with it.
She told the court that she was left ‘embarrassed’ and ‘reduced to tears’ after asking a manager at the site to help her get the device back only to be subjected to whistling and crude comments from her ex and another colleague.
She claimed that this was the reason that she called her father to the dealership, who was then joined by her brother.
However, after the court was shown footage of the attack, which took place within the workshop and forecourt, prosecutors questioned her account.
Fiscal dispute Maria Murdoch told the defendant: ‘None of what you are saying is backed up by footage. You attend there with your dad and brother to assault them.’
Ms Coyle denied she was lying and told the court: ‘My story will never change.’
When asked why she simply didn’t leave the dealership after getting her phone back, she replied: ‘I deserved an explanation that day. It obviously just didn’t work out as planned.’
After hearing all the evidence, Sheriff McGeehan found Ms Coyle, of Garvald Street, guilty of assaulting both her ex boyfriend and his colleague.
She was also found to have behaved in a ‘threatening and abusive manner’ towards her former partner.
All three family members will now be sentenced on March 12.
