UK Edition
Vogue model 'assault victim' asked in court if she was an MI5 spy who was dating man to steal his father's business secrets
A man accused of abducting and assaulting his former Vogue model girlfriend has suggested she was an MI5 or MI6 spy who was trying to find out about his father’s company.
Elaine Ford, 28, asked the lawyer to repeat the question when she was asked in the witness box whether she had worked for the security services or the police.
Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard that her former lover Nathan Gray, 27, believes she was recruited to find out about his father’s work with Airbus.
It was also told that he believes he may have been drugged on the night that she alleges he attacked her and held her captive at her flat in Edinburgh.
She previously told the court that he dragged her across the bedroom floor and she was forced to shut herself in the lavatory for her own safety after telling him she wanted to end the relationship.
The case took an unusual turn when Ian Smith, defending, told the model that Mr Gray believed she had been enlisted by MI5 and was spying on him.
He asked: “Did you know Mr Gray believes his father’s work had attracted the attention of the security services?
“Mr Gray believes the reason your relationship started and ended is connected to you being involved in the security services or some other investigatory body, perhaps the police. He added: 'Have you ever worked for MI5, MI6 or the police.'"
Miss Ford said she had no involvement with the security services or the police and denied drugging Mr Gray.
Aiden Higgins, prosecuting, told her: “Sometimes in life you just don’t see things coming. Let’s just get this clear in case there is any doubt. Are you a spy, Ms Ford?
“Were you sent out by MI5 or MI6, GCHQ or any other secret intelligence agency. Did you send any of these to get Nathan Gray?” Miss Ford, from Stirling, replied: “No.”
Mr Gray denies abducting her and holding her against her will at her flat in Edinburgh on November 27, 2013. She told the court that she ended the relationship that night after he “lost control” when a male friend phoned her.
She described her former boyfriend as a jealous man who did not like her having contact with her friends.
Gray, of Weymouth, Dorset, also denies stealing her belongings, including a computer, house keys and a handbag. He also denies causing her fear and alarm by repeatedly contacting her friends and refusing to leave her home between November 27, 2013 and March 10, 2014.
The trial continues.