A FORMER Partick Thistle footballer has denied dragging and pushing his girlfriend down a flight of stairs.
Jai Quitongo, 22, is accused of attacking partner Lauren Smith outside her house in December last year by grabbing her wrists and seizing her neck to her severe injury, permanent disfigurement and permanent impairment.
The trial at Glasgow Sheriff Court heard evidence from neighbours who claimed the pair were having a loud argument before the alleged incident in December last year.
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Quitongo, who has also represented Greenock Morton, has been without a club since leaving Iranian side Machine Sazi in July.
In evidence Catherine Munro, 55, told the jury that she believed the incident was witnessed by Quitongo’s father Jose, who won the Scottish Cup with Heart of Midlothian in 1998.
Her sister, Yvonne, 51, told the court that she had to intervene in the alleged dispute and added: “The woman was being dragged by Jai into the path and then the close."
“She was being dragged by her hair or her wrists backwards.
“She was going back head first, that’s when we had enough and put our shoes and jackets on.”
The pair told the court they raced across the road and Jose asked them to phone the police.
When they arrived at Lauren's house, they said she was lying curled up on the couch.
Catherine said: “She was crying and shaking, Jai was standing up and then sat next to her.
“He was calm and said he didn’t do anything.
“He was told to leave by Yvonne and go and get his dad by Lauren, but he refused.”
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Catherine then drove Lauren to Glasgow Royal Infirmary after she saw a bone popped out of her wrist.
A 999 call was made, but the Quitongos left the house before they arrived.
Smith's mother, Lyn, 49, said her daughter told her she “fell down some stairs.”
She then told her mother she was going to meet Jai and a friend and head into a nightclub in town.
The mother added that the pair were close before the incident but have been “distant” since.
The trial continues before Sheriff Lindsay Wood.
