St Johnstone cup hero Shaun Rooney made a teenage girl feel “frightened” after he allegedly assaulted her in a chip shop, a court has heard.
The-28-year-old is accused of attacking an 18-year-old at Blue Lagoon on Glasgow’s Queen Street on September 19 last year.
It is alleged the former St Mirren star repeatedly pushed her and seized her on the body.
Prosecutors claim that Rooney, of Bellshill, Lanarkshire, twisted the woman’s arm and kicked her on the body to her injury.
Rooney faces a separate allegation of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner at the same date and location.
The charge says Rooney shouted, swore, acted in an aggressive manner and uttered derogatory remarks.
It is stated the alleged offence was aggravated by prejudice related to sexual orientation.
‘You are embarrassing yourself a bit’
The ex-Inverness and Dunfermline Athletic player stood in the dock at Glasgow Sheriff Court.
His alleged victim, an international business student, told the court she went to the chip shop with friends during a night out.
She claimed that she came across Rooney – whom she did not know – arguing with a man.
The witness stated that she tried to “calm down” the altercation and was prodded on the upper chest by Rooney.
The witness stated that she and her male friend decided to leave the chip shop.
Rooney is claimed to have said to the teenager’s friend: “F*** off gay boy” in a “quite angry and aggressive tone.”
The woman stated that she heard screaming and re-entered the shop, assuming it was one of her other friends.
She claimed she approached Rooney and told him: “You are not going to make anything better, you are embarrassing yourself a bit.”
She added: “He kind of grabbed my arm, it might have been my right arm.
“It was a very tight grip – he was twisting a bit.
“I was asking what he was doing twisting an 18-year-old girl’s arm and I pushed him away with my boot and he kicked me on my leg.”
‘I felt so frightened’
Prosecutor Cameron Gaw asked how many hands Rooney laid on her during the alleged twist.
She replied: “I think it was just the one – I felt that he was twisting it a little.
“I felt so frightened as I had not been in a situation [before] especially with a grown man.”
The witness stated that she was also left with a mark on her leg as a result.
When asked to describe the mark, she replied: “Just a red mark on my leg which turned into a much bigger bruise – it was sore and really painful.
“I don’t think I have felt so much impact before on my body.”
The witness added that she struggled to walk in the morning after the incident.
When asked about how much she had to drink that night, she stated that she had two between 4pm and 1.30am.
The trial continues before Sheriff Joan Kerr.
Rooney was a key member of the St Johnstone 2021 cup double-winning team, scoring in the finals of both the League and Scottish Cup.
He returned to Scotland to sign for St Mirren this summer, having spent a spell at Fleetwood in England’s League One.
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