Baby Reindeer star praised as man convicted of attacking Richard Gadd’s neighbour

Baby Reindeer star Richard Gadd has been praised by a sheriff as a man was convicted of attacking one of the actor’s neighbours.

Helen McGinty hailed Gadd as an “impressive witness” in the trial of 22-year-old Lucas Bains.

Bains pushed the woman into the balcony of her flat in Glasgow’s Finnieston on the night of November 1, 2023.

Gadd, who is the woman’s downstairs neighbour, said he sought help after hearing the woman shout, “He is trying to kill me.”

The 37-year-old Golden Globes winner – creator of the hit Netflix series – was in the witness box earlier this month at Glasgow Sheriff Court.

In closing submissions on Wednesday, Patrick Campbell, defending, stated that Gadd’s evidence was “perhaps histrionic” and “I suspect imagine a lot”.

However, Bains, of the city’s Maryhill, was found guilty by Sheriff Helen McGinty who praised the actor’s evidence.

The sheriff said: “To the contrary, I did not find Mr Gadd’s evidence to be histrionic.

“I found him to be an impressive witness who had excellent recall and was doing his best to assist the court without speculating.

“He tried to make sense of what he saw and heard.

“I found his evidence to be strong in a case where we did not hear from the victim.

“He said that he heard an argument above and thought it was a party but then realised it was not a happy occasion.

“He described his actions of trying to ascertain what was happening.

“Mr Gadd saw flailing arms and heard raised voices in the balcony and a woman in distress shouting ‘help me, help me, he is trying to kill me.

“You were identified to Mr Gadd by the victim as the person she was referring to.”

Bains was convicted of seizing the woman, pushing her on the balcony and locking her there.

He had initially been charged of seizing her by the shoulders and trapping her leg on a door frame to her injury. This was deleted mid-trial by the Crown.

Bains pled guilty before the trial to failing to give the identity of a driver involved in an incident to police as well as failing to provide specimens of breath for a test.

Scots actor and comedian Gadd told procurator fiscal Daniel Lynch the alleged incident occurred while he had a rare night off from filming.

He said he initially heard what he thought was a gathering in the flat upstairs around 10pm.

But, Gadd claimed there was later arguing and shouting. He said: “It stopped feeling like a party.”

He poked his head out onto his balcony, returned inside, but the noise continued.

Gadd said he went back out for a second time and described seeing “a flurry of arms”.

A woman was said to be in distress and was shouting: “Help me, help me – he is trying to kill me”.

The court heard Gadd was concerned enough to call the police.

The actor said he eventually passed the woman a dressing gown as she appeared cold.

Quizzed later by Mr Campbell, Gadd accepted the first time he looked out his verandah that there was “nothing to see”.

He added: “I was trying to figure out what was going on.”

Gadd said “there was a bit of quiet then a rise again”. He told the trial he eventually heard the door of the balcony above being closed and spotted the woman outside.

The star claimed she remained on the balcony until police came.

Mr Campbell asked: “You gave an estimate of around 20 minutes?”

Gadd said: “Again, with the adrenaline it’s hard to say, possibly a period of 20 to 30 minutes.”

Another witness told the court how he saw a man – identified as Bain – leaving the block “quite agitated, shouting at the building”.

The man alleged Bains remarked: “F***ing b****.”

The financial crime analyst claimed he saw the woman on the balcony “quite distressed, crying out.”

He said: “It looked like she was requesting help.”

Mr Russell stated Bains had a bag with him with liquid dripping out of it before he went into a car.

This witness alleged he drove over flowerbeds on the pavement before he left the area.

Mr Lynch asked Mr Russell what happened to the woman on the balcony and he replied: “Shouting and requesting help, saying that she was stuck.”

A PC told the court that the front door was forced by colleagues.

The witness stated that there was a sofa placed against the door of the locked balcony.

When asked by Mr Lynch how the woman was, the PC replied: “Distressed, crying.”

The witness added: “She said that she had invited the man to the flat and consumed alcohol through the course of the night.

“An argument took place and she asked him to leave and they got in a fight and he locked her in the balcony.”

Mr Campbell said in his closing submission: “It strikes me that Mr Gadd was perhaps histrionic in his evidence.

“He claimed to see a little, hear a little and I suspect, imagine a lot.”

Bains was disqualified from driving pending background reports and sentencing next month.