You expect overpriced drinks, questionable legroom, and maybe someone talking too loudly during a West End show. What you don't expect is for a night of musical theater to turn into an assault case involving an international criminal with a history of contract murder plots.
That is exactly what happened to Kirsty O'Donnell at the London Coliseum during a 2023 performance of the Queen jukebox musical We Will Rock You. Malcolm Potier, a 75-year-old property tycoon and former Scottish laird, was recently sentenced to two years in prison for non-fatal strangulation after he grabbed O'Donnell by the neck. The story sounds like cheap fiction, but the reality involves a dark web of violent convictions, islands, and absolute disregard for human life.
How a Simple Sing Along Triggered Violence
The incident started over something entirely trivial. O'Donnell and a friend attended a performance of the show. Midway through the production, they were moved to seats next to Potier and his partner, Lizzie Loveridge.
As the music played, O'Donnell sang along quietly. Loveridge demanded she stay quiet. When O'Donnell responded that the demand was "a bit rude," things escalated instantly. Potier leaned over, muttered that he would show her what rude meant, and placed both hands around her neck.
He applied pressure for several seconds while she struggled to tell him to let go. Most audience members go to the theater to escape reality, but O'Donnell found herself fighting for air in the middle of a packed auditorium.
Uncovering a Dark Past
When police began investigating the assault, they quickly realized Potier was no ordinary aggressive theatergoer. His criminal history reads like a true crime anthology.
Years prior, while living in Australia, Potier fell out with a former partner over child custody. Rather than handling the dispute through standard legal channels, he plotted to have people killed, leading to his conviction for hiring hitmen. While awaiting sentencing for those initial offenses, his prison cell was bugged. Authorities discovered he was attempting to orchestrate yet another murder, targeting his ex-partner from behind bars. That brazen attempt earned him a second, much longer prison sentence.
Potier also spent time owning an island and operating as a property tycoon, cultivating a lifestyle far removed from the average concert-goer. After serving his time in Australia, he returned to the UK in 2015, where authorities placed him under a strict Violent Offender Order to monitor his behavior. Shockingly, that order expired shortly before he walked into the London Coliseum and attacked a stranger over a Queen song.
Accountability and the Aftermath
During his trial at Southwark Crown Court, Potier tried every trick in the book to avoid responsibility. First, he claimed he was never even at the show, suggesting another man sat in his seat. When that defense fell apart, he shifted his story, claiming a hand injury would have made it impossible for him to choke anyone.
The jury didn't buy it. Judge Dafna Spiro sentenced him to two years behind bars, pointing out a continuous thread of control, dominance, and zero accountability running through his entire life. Judge Spiro also issued an indefinite restraining order to keep Potier away from O'Donnell.
O'Donnell stated in court that learning about her attacker's past left her living in constant fear that he might track her down. Public spaces rely on an unspoken social contract of safety. When individuals with histories of extreme violence walk freely among crowds, everyday outings carry hidden risks that ordinary people can never anticipate.
Pay attention to your surroundings, trust your instincts when interactions turn hostile, and remember that behind a strange public outburst, you never truly know who is sitting in the next seat.
