A family doctor accused of assaulting his estranged wife during an argument over their TV remote has been cleared of wrongdoing.
GP Robert Ballantyne, 51, faced being struck off after former nurse Lynette alleged he had grabbed her by the shoulders and manhandled her after she threw the device in the garden at their home.
At the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service on Monday in Manchester, a disciplinary panel cleared Dr Ballantyne of misconduct charges after he accused his wife of feigning cries for help as part of a plan to ‘stage’ an assault.
The couple are from Bearsden in East Dunbartonshire.
Robert Ballantyne (pictured left at the hearing in Manchester, earlier in September) was cleared on Monday by a disciplinary panel at the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service of misconduct charges
Mrs Ballantyne, who is in her 50s, claimed her estranged husband called her a ‘c***’ as he attacked her in what she said was a wine fuelled drunken rage whilst they were living under the same roof during acrimonious divorce proceedings.
Dr Ballantyne had insisted she had ’embellished’ the row in an attempt to destroy his career.
A speciality doctor in clinical genetics at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow, Dr Ballantyne was arrested at the time of the argument in October 2017 but criminal proceedings against him were later dropped.
The former GP referred himself to the General Medical Council and moved out of the house after his wife, who now runs a dog walking business, changed the locks
He denied any physical contact or calling her a ‘c***’ and said he had been drinking tea and not wine at the time.
He said his estranged wife had warned him: ‘I will f***ng destroy you and leave you with nothing,’ during the row.
The Manchester hearing was told Mrs Ballantyne had told police a neighbour had witnessed the incident but the neighbour said he saw nothing of the argument.
She also brought to the tribunal previously unseen pictures purporting to show her sporting bruises after the incident. She further admitted sending the doctor a text saying she was on her way to the police station when she was instead travelling to her sister’s address.
Panel chairman Kenneth Hamer said: ‘The Tribunal found Dr Ballantyne to be a good witness and it accepted his evidence, which it considered was consistent throughout.’
The panel had heard testimonials from both professional colleagues and family members attesting to Dr Ballantyne’s ‘gentle nature,’ (Dr Ballantyne pictured above leaving the MPTS in Manchester earlier in September after appearing before a medical tribunal)
‘He conceded that there had been an argument but maintained that there had been no physical contact. In his witness statement Dr Ballantyne said that when he heard Mrs A shouting for help from outside the house, he realised that she was trying to stage some form of incident as she had threatened to do,’ Hamer added.
The panel had heard testimonials from both professional colleagues and family members attesting to Dr Ballantyne’s ‘gentle nature.’
‘… many additionally state that they have never witnessed him lose his temper or swear. The Tribunal had considerable difficulties in regard to her evidence and her differing accounts of the incident are inconsistent and irreconcilable with other evidence,’ Hamer said, referring to Mrs Ballantyne’s account of what happened.
‘The Tribunal is not persuaded that Dr Ballantyne ‘lost it’ and it is of the view that she has embellished the incident, whether deliberately or otherwise. It it is unable to accept her account of what took place in the matrimonial home,’ he added.
The couple had bought the property in 1998. They agreed to split in November 2016 amid allegations of infidelity.
The panel heard how they had decided to live under the same roof until their divorce was finalised but the pair slept in separate rooms which were kept locked.
Initially a 50:50 split was agreed on their joint assets but Mrs Ballantyne said she wanted the house, arguing the doctor had been unfaithful to her and claiming he had installed bugging devices and cameras around the property to spy on her movements.
Dr Ballantyne told the tribunal: ‘My wife was the first of us to approach a solicitor but we continued to live in the house and predominantly conversations related to how the household functioned whilst the vast majority of divorce conversations were done by legal representatives.
The tribunal concluded that it couldn’t accept Mrs Ballantyne’s (pictured) account of what took place in the matrimonial home
‘We had agreed that everything would be divided equally from the outset and in terms of all the assets there was always an understanding that thing would be divided 50/50. But it was not always done through the solicitors and it’s not settled to this day.
‘It was difficult living in such an atmosphere. We didn’t get along and I was finding the situation difficult – it was stressful,’ he added.
The alleged incident occurred at 2 p.m. on October 6 after Dr Ballantyne had returned from a three week holiday.
Mrs Ballantyne said she had gone for a shower and came downstairs.
‘He hadn’t been in the house for three weeks and I came downstairs after a shower and went into the living and he was sitting there in his boxer shorts drinking wine,’ the panel heard before Mrs Ballantyne had gone on to accuse Dr Ballantyne of putting her neck in a lock and hitting her.
Dr Ballantyne added: ‘There may have been a continuation of what I had experienced before I went on holiday – but it was not different. I was not drinking red wine on the afternoon – I would never drink alcohol at that time of the afternoon regardless whether it was a weekend or coming back off holiday.’
‘I didn’t start any argument with my wife and we were not arguing about the TV. That conversation about it being my TV did not happen. I did not use that word ‘c***.’
Dr Ballantyne said the incident happened probably around 2.30 p.m. but there was never any mention about ownership of the TV. It was a complete fabrication, he said.
He went on to say he didn’t lose his temper ‘at any stage.’
‘I accept that that word (bint) could be regarded as abusive in some occasions and it was a word that she and I had used on a few occasions throughout our marriage. But I have never used that word (c***) and didn’t lose my temper and I didn’t assault her.’
Ballantyne (pictured at the hearing in Manchester), from Bearsden in East Dunbartonshire, had denied misconduct
‘She threw the TV remote control into the garden but I was not incensed and I never mentioned that the TV was mine. I did not assault my wife. And there was no physical contact between my wife and I. In fact I repeat, there was no physical contact,’ Dr Ballantyne added.
Dr Ballantyne’s lawyer Matthew McDonagh accused Mrs Ballantyne of showing ‘disrespect’ for the tribunal and of changing her account so may times the beginning and end was like ‘pinning the tail on a donkey.’
He also highlighted an episode where Mrs Ballantyne had previously warned her husband she would go to his work and create a scene during a row over her missing car keys.
He added: ‘She sees this as an opportunity to impact upon her husband. On any view this is very difficult set of circumstances and domestically tensions had increased. But she was lying – there had not been such an attack.’
‘The truth shines brightly and resonates clearly – this is a women by her own admission who accepts she is capable of threatening her husband recognising the impact that could have on his professional position and on his personal life. This was entire exaggeration and embellishment or just a lie – plain and simple,’ Mr McDonagh added.
