Man pushed 12-year-old girl as he saw a knife under her T-shirt, court told

A Bulgarian man has told a court he pushed a 12-year-old girl as he could see a knife under her T-shirt and thought she was going to attack his sister.

Iilia Belov, 22, is accused of assaulting the girl during an incident in the Lochee area of Dundee in August last year.

Giving evidence to Dundee Sheriff Court on Thursday, Belov said he had been with his father on his way to buy cigarettes when he passed a group of young girls walking in the other direction.

Speaking with the assistance of a Bulgarian interpreter, the father-of-two said that as they approached, one of the girls uttered “disrespectful” remarks to him.

“They are coming and start making some cheeky remarks,” he said.

“They told me ‘son of a b*****’ and also ‘f****** migrant’.”

He said that after they passed each other on the street, the girls continued to “shout” remarks at him, so he turned round and went after them, leaving his father to continue to the shop.

“I went back to ask why they are disrespecting me,” he told the court.

“They have started to panic, saying I am following them.”

Asked why he had not just walked away, he said: “Because I am human.

“I deserve to ask them why I deserve so much disrespect. I didn’t do anything to them.”

He said more girls turned up, at which point he said he phoned his sister as he was “worried”, and that when she arrived, a physical altercation broke out between her and one of the girls.

He said that during this, he saw that another of the girls had a knife tucked under her T-shirt, and pushed her over in order to protect his sister.

“I pushed the other girl who was wearing the weapons because I saw the knife on her back,” he said, explaining that he could see the handle under her T-shirt, and that he thought she was going to “do something” with it.

He added: “I pushed her away before anything happened.”

Belov told the court that after she got back up, the girl brandished the knife and axe she had concealed beneath her clothing, telling the court this was the first time he saw her holding them.

“She held the knife and axe and tried to get to us,” he said.

Cross-examining the witness, prosecutor Michael Robertson put it to him that as a grown man he had been the “adult” in the situation, and that he could just have walked away or phoned the police.

Belov accepted this – but when asked whether staying in the area had been “wrong” he said he was “not sure”.

Belov also denied having directed sexual remarks at any of the girls, saying he had only wanted to ask why they were disrespecting him.

The prosecutor also disputed whether Belov had seen the knife before pushing the girl to the ground, suggesting he had only seen it after she had stood up.

He took the court through CCTV footage of the incident that he said showed the girl had been behind Belov immediately before he pushed her.

Belov denied this, saying that during the incident the girl had been “acting aggressively” and that he could “easily see what’s on her back”.

Giving evidence earlier in the trial, the girl said she had had the axe and knife in her waistband for five to ten minutes before the incident, and that she had brandished them after the physical altercation.

She said that after revealing the weapons she was “basically sat holding them”, saying she “knew” the man would “try to go for (the other girl) again”.

She also alleged that Belov had kept saying to her: “Come here sexy. I will show you how to have a good time”, and that his words made her feel “angry”.

Belov has denied all the charges against him.

The trial continues.