A SERIOUS assault jury trial has collapsed at Greenock Sheriff Court after a key prosecution witness admitted she was ‘not credible’ and ‘full of valium’ at the time of an alleged incident.

Robert Best had been charged with seizing and compressing the woman’s neck at an address on Greenock's Kelly Street shortly before Christmas in 2021.

The 48-year-old was also accused of lifting her off the ground by her neck, repeatedly striking her face with his hand, pushing her and causing her to fall to the ground and lose consciousness.

The trial witness told the court that details she had provided earlier in her evidence were not correct.

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On several occasions, she said could not remember or did not know what had happened because she had taken cocaine and valium.

Defence solicitor Paul Keenan asked: “On this particular day, could this [drug taking] have made you aggressive?”

The witness replied: “It could’ve done.”

Mr Keenan added: “Detached you from reality?”

The witness responded: “Maybe.”

Fiscal depute Raeesa Ahmed took the witness through the statement she had provided police with when they arrived at Kelly Street on December 21, 2021.

Regarding the information contained in the statement, Miss Ahmed asked: “Do you accept that this would have been the truth or not?”

The witness responded: “Maybe. I don’t know. This is why I didn’t want to go on the stand.

“I don’t know the full truth. I was not fully there, I was not myself.

"I don’t think I’m a credible witness because I was full of valium."

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The witness claimed she had been told by Miss Ahmed to withhold from the court an admission that she hit Best first.

She said: “You never told me to lie but when I said I hit him first, I was told not to say that.

“I felt very much pressured."

An additional witness, who was present during the alleged discussion, was introduced to the trial.

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Lawyer Mr Keenan asked the witness: “If [the first witness] said that the procurator fiscal told her not to say in court that she hit him first, would that be a lie?”

The woman replied: “Yes. That would be a lie.”

Following this, Miss Ahmed informed Sheriff James Varney that the Crown would no longer be seeking a conviction in the case.

Best was formally found not guilty.