Putney Man In Court Over 'Buggy Rage'
McCatty is accused of knocking a disabled bus passenger unconscious to the floor
In Kingston Court yesterday, 36 year old Nova Whiting-Willet re countered the distressing memories of her journey on a crowded 85 bus last September. Mrs Whiting-Willet was traveling with her husband Anders who McCatty is also accused of attacking, and her 3 year old daughter who was strapped in a buggy.
34 year old Wayne McCatty, of Stroud Crescent, Putney tried to force a buggy carrying a small child into the tiny space where the family were standing and where other passengers had left their suitcases, he admits he punched the couple as the row escalated.
The accused boarded the bus on Kingston Hill with his partner & 7 year old daughter & a buggy - McCatty asked Mrs Whiting-Willet to make room for the buggy & according to the her became increasingly abusive about her weight and appearance when she said she couldn't move.
McCatty admitted he was the man captured on the bus's CCTV when giving himself up to police three months later, but claims he struck the couple in self-defence. Mrs Whiting-Willet admitted lashing out, but insisted it was only after the defendant grabbed her. She told the court:
"It was not hard and it was only once."
McCatty told officers he "decked" Mr Whiting-Willet, but this was only after she had told her husband to hit him.
Mrs Whiting-Willet suffers from the auto-immune disease lupus, broke down in tear during her time giving evidence, told the court that:
"He had hold of my head and was banging it against the floor and I felt him stamping on my head, shoulder, stomach and legs and kicking me in the back,"
No passengers intervened and they stepped over the prone victim as they got off the bus for another service
McCatty is pleading not guilty to assaulting Mrs Whiting-Willet, causing her actual bodily harm, on September 19, last year and assaulting Anders as the bus traveled up Kingston Hill, - the case continues.
September 1, 2011
