An Instagram star whose climbing adventures are followed by thousands of fans has been branded "nasty, manipulative and abusive in real life".
A former girlfriend of Martin McGinley told a court her relationship with him damaged her mental health. Former soldier McGinley, 36, is the self-styled Scottish Adventurer.
He has nearly 10,000 followers on Instagram and posts videos of his Scottish mountain climbing feats on YouTube. McGinley, of Glasgow, is on trial at Hamilton Sheriff Court accused of a course of abusive behaviour in East Kilbride, Lanarkshire, and elsewhere during 2019 and 2020.
It's alleged that he acted aggressively towards the woman, sent abusive texts and WhatsApp messages and contacted her repeatedly when she tried to end the relationship. McGinley allegedly followed her in a vehicle on one occasion and filmed her when she was in a state of undress.
The woman, who gave evidence from behind a screen, described McGinley as "snappy and controlling". She claimed he called her "100 times a day", pleading with her to give him another chance.
She said: "He is quite nasty in real life. He is manipulative and abusive.
"That's not the person he portrays himself to be all over social media. I've been left with mental health problems - depression and anger - because of all the stress.
"It will be a long time - and probably a lot of therapy - before I can have a serious relationship with someone else."
Giving evidence, McGinley denied the woman's allegations. He said she ended their relationship after a matter of months after accusing him of cheating.
He admitted exchanging texts with an ex-partner but insisted there was "nothing physical". McGinley told his lawyer, Lee Doyle: "I never forced her to stay, but I tried to resolve things.
"I gave her access to my emails and social media, and I agreed to go to counselling. I had feelings for her and wanted it to work out.
"I jumped through the hoops she was laying out for me."
The Crown dropped charges that McGinley pursued a course of abusive conduct towards another former partner and acted in a threatening or abusive manner towards a third woman.
However, he still faces an accusation that he took a photo of the second woman without her consent while they were having sex in a toilet. The woman said she was shocked when McGinley sent her the image, taken at the Citation bar in Glasgow city centre in 2019.
McGinley said he and the woman were both drunk at the time and he didn't remember taking the picture.
He told the court: "In the photo we were both fully clothed. It was taken after we'd had sex and there was nothing out of the ordinary about it."
The trial, before Sheriff Colin Dunipace, was adjourned until next month.
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