Former Miss Scotland bit security guard and called him N-word, court hears

A former Miss Scotland bit a security guard and called him the N-word, a court heard.

Lucy Thomson sank her teeth into the hand of Andrew Okpaje and made the racist slur while being thrown out of the Edinburgh City 7s rugby competition.

The 26-year-old also bit a second security officer and shouted “Do you know who I am?” and “I’ve got so much money in my account” during the drunken rant in June 2023.

Thomson – the reigning Miss Scotland at the time – was arrested after Mr Okpaje called police to report her using racist language towards him.

Footage of Thomson and her sister being ejected from the tournament by security staff was posted on social media.

The Miss Scotland Wikipedia page states she was later “dethroned” of the title.

Thomson denied the charges but was found guilty following a two-day trial at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Friday.

‘I was shocked when it happened’

Mr Okpaje told the court he was employed as a supervisor with MK Security and was working at the Edinburgh City 7s tournament at the capital’s Peffermill playing fields on June 17, 2023.

He said he was asked to attend to a report of a drunk woman at around 7pm and the decision was made that “they were to be escorted off the site”.

He said that as he attempted to remove the woman and her sister from the area she “started fighting back” and said to him “do you know who I am?” and “I’ve got so much money in my account”.

Mr Okpaje, 26, added: “As we got closer to the exit I was assaulted.

“We were holding her and trying to be as gentle as possible and as I had my arm up she went to bite it. It left a mark on my hand.

“I looked at her in shock and then she proceed to call me the ‘n’ word.

“She looked directly at me and with confidence she said ‘f— you then, you f—ing n—–’.”

He added: “I hadn’t heard the word said to me in a while. It was quite a shock when it happened. It was pretty horrible.”

Alasdair Doolan, Mr Okpaje’s colleague, told the trial Thomson had also bitten him on the arm during the struggle but he had not seen the assault on his fellow bouncer or heard her use racist language.

Thomson also gave evidence and denied biting the two men or using the racial slur.

She said she had been invited to the event as “an ambassador” and had promoted the rugby tournament on her social media.

Thomson told the court she had only drunk two and half ciders all day and saw her sister being “cornered into a woodland area” by security staff before she was assaulted by one of the men.

Thomson said she was “struck from behind” by one security officer before she had her “arms pinned to her side” and “dragged across a rugby pitch” with no warning.

She told the trial she did not say anything towards the employees apart from her “shouting for help”.

Thomson also denied being stripped of the Miss Scotland crown instead claiming she had “passed on the title” in September 2023.

Following the evidence, Sheriff Derek O’Carroll said he found Thomson’s account to be “utterly implausible” and found her guilty of assaulting both men and to racially abusing Mr Okpaje.

Thomson, of Crossford, Fife, was fined a total of £790 which is to be paid within two months.

Thomson was crowned Miss Scotland at a ceremony at Glasgow’s Grand Central Hotel in July 2022 but following her arrest organisers stated online she had been “dethroned”.

In 2020 she started non-profit BRAvery Trust charity working for bra and menstrual product donation and equipping people living in period poverty.

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