// BBC UK NEWS — CRONACA
Theatregoer who throttled woman at show is jailed
Malcolm Potier is the former laird of the Hebridean island of Gigha
A 75-year-old man who strangled a woman after she started to sing along at a West End show has been jailed for two years.
Malcolm Potier was sitting near victim Kirsty O'Donnell in the audience at We Will Rock You at the London Coliseum in June 2023.
He said he had no recollection of being at the show, or of attacking O'Donnell, but was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on Thursday after being found guilty of non-fatal strangulation by jurors.
Potier, a businessman and surveyor of Sarratt near Watford, was already jailed in Australia two decades ago having twice tried to arrange the murder of a former partner following a dispute over their child.
He is also the former laird - a Scottish term for someone owning a large long-established estate - of the Hebridean island of Gigha.
Judge Dafna Spiro said his behaviour was "extreme and horrific".
"It is an unusual offence," she said. "It's not a situation I have ever come across before."
She said there was a "thread" of "dominance, control and lack of accountability" in Potier's behaviour.
O'Donnell was sitting in the dress circle at the London Coliseum when she was attacked