Scottish Entrepreneur's £125K Headbutt

Headbutt: Mark Emlick

A wealthy Scottish businessman head butted a one-time colleague and friend in a Michelin-starred restaurant  - leaving the victim spitting blood - after a deal left him £125,000 out of pocket.

Mark Emlick, 55, Chairman of Edinburgh based specialist real estate and asset management company Consensus Capital Group plc, based in Craigmillar Park reacted to being told: “Jog on for your money,” the court was told yesterday.

Emlick, who lives in a £3 million townhouse in Cotswold Mews, Battersea, located across the Thames river from Chelsea Harbour was placed on a twelve-month community order and must complete 80 hours community service work.

He pleaded guilty that on October 17, last year he assaulted Marcus Watson at Nordic-themed Aquavit restaurant at St. James’s Market, Carlton Street, near Piccadilly Circus.

Westminster Magistrates Court was told Emlick, who once appeared on Sky TV’s ‘Who’d Be A Billionaire?’ show enjoying a £9,000-a day Botswana safari had downed four gin and tonics.

He had invested £250,000 in a business venture with neighbour Mr. Watson, a friend of twenty years and professional associate for seven years, but lost half the money when the company folded.

His lawyer Mr. Andrew Copeland said CCTV captured the assault as the men chatted at the restaurant bar. “You can see the head going to the face, the nose area.

“The explanation is his loss of one hundred and twenty thousand pounds and being told to: 'Jog on for your money,' is what provoked him.

Off His Brolly: Mark Emlick

"They are at the bar and there is a conversation for a minute and a half. Something must have been said by Mr. Watson for the defendant to react the way he did, which was purely momentary.

“It is somebody he knows, a friend who he feels has exploited this situation and the company’s been wound up and he knows he is not going to get the money.”

Magistrate Joanna Barley told bespectacled Emlick: “It was a short incident and it was a single blow. However it did happen in a public place and alcohol was involved.

“It was a headbutt, a very serious way of hurting someone,” she added also ordering him to pay £85 costs and an £85 victim surcharge.

Prosecutor Miss Aislin Rice said it was 9pm and the pair had been enjoying a polite conversation that turned ugly with insults from Emlick.

“He asked if he was a pussy and had a vagina. He head butted him to the left side of his face, causing a laceration to the inside of the mouth.”

Mr. Watson, who had holidayed with Emlick and their partners, told police. “He head butted me to the left side. Following the headbutt I had cuts and abrasions and bleeding from my teeth cutting the inside of my mouth.”

Bloody: Marcus Watson

He was taken to the A&E department of Chelsea and Westminster Hospital and added: “I’m struggling to understand and I have been anxious about going out after the attack.

“He lives in the same road, we are near the same shops and I’ve lost my confidence.

“My family see that I am anxious and I’m concerned about bumping into him. He has meetings in the area and I’m embarrassed about being attacked and not being able to defend myself.”

Miss Rice added: “His ability to interact with clients has been effected and he was subdued in his first week back in his office and colleagues noticed that.”

Initially Emlick tried to lie his way out of trouble telling police: “I turned my head to talk to Mark. I did not realise how close he was. It was not deliberate, it was accidental.”

Mr. Copeland told the court: “One of these deals unfortunately went sour, this defendant had invested two-hundred and fifty thousand in Mr. Watson’s business.

“It did not turn out to be what he hoped it was and Mr. Watson elevated his salary and bought himself a new Range Rover.

“He specifically moved to Battersea to be near his friend Mr. Watson.

“If it was more serious it would have been charged as an actual bodily harm.

“There is some history to this matter. They would go on holiday together as a foursome, they know each other extremely well.”

Emlick’s girlfriend Nicki Murray was in court and she was also at the restaurant when the two men met face-to-face for the first time in eighteen months, describing Mr. Watson as “rude and goading,” towards the defendant.

Mr. Copeland said the men stepped outside for a chat, out of earshot of others to ease the tension and the assault occurred when they returned inside.

“It is a sparsely-populated restaurant and not even the person behind the bar sees it. It was over so quickly.

“The defendant went there hoping to put it behind him and to use his words: ‘Let’s move on’. This is one act of violence in a one-off situation.”

in February, 2016 Emlick was fined £700 at Perth Sheriff’s Court for hurling threats at ex Jaime Duffin, 39, who he wanted to abort their daughter Gracie, born in May, that year.

Afterwards Emlick said: “I have known Marcus Watson as a friend and business partner for over twenty years.

“What started as a disagreement over my lost investment in Adoreum Partners has unfortunately escalated into an argument and a momentary loss of control on my part, which I very much regret and for which I apologise completely.”

The court declined to make a restraining order prohibiting Emlick contacting Mr. Watson or award any compensation.