A senior member of staff at the University of Aberdeen has been recorded charging head first at students and manhandling a female protester.
Angus Donaldson, Director of Estates and Facilities at the University of Aberdeen has been video recorded charging headfirst into a crowd of students and security staff, ramming students against the fire door they were being told to move away from.
At the end of the video, Donaldson is also seen manhandling a female student who responds by objecting loudly at being moved shouting “do not touch me”.
A statement on the Aberdeen Occupation Facebook page said: “As Director of Estates and Facilities, we believe that Angus Donaldson is ultimately responsible for any inappropriate conduct by members of the University security team.
“He is paid an annual salary of £115,000 to fulfill his Senior Management duties as Director of Estates and Facilities. We repeat and reaffirm our previously stated belief that Angus Donaldson has egregiously failed to hold his security team to any standard of proper health and safety practice and has repeatedly put Aberdeen University students in potential harm.
“Rather than acting to ensure the safety and wellbeing of staff and students, Donaldson has behaved in a physically aggressive and escalatory manner.”
Maggie Chapman, recently re-elected Rector of the University of Aberdeen, commented on the video footage:
“I am very concerned about the behaviour of a senior member of university staff. Angus Donaldson, the Director of Estates and Facilities, appears to think he is on the rugby pitch, and is trying to clear students off an imaginary ball.
“Towards the end of the clip, he can be seen manhandling a student against a wall while she shouts “do not touch me” at him. She is not resisting. She is not fighting back. She is not causing any disruption.
She added: “The University needs to take responsibility for this incident: they promised open access to the occupation. Caroline Inglis (University Secretary) and Mike Greaves (Senior Vice Principal) both signed a note to this effect. If they had kept their agreement and maintained open access to the occupation, none of what is seen in the footage would have happened.
The University of Aberdeen have confirmed Angus Donaldson as the man in the video. A spokesperson said: “During this incident staff were overpowered and a member of security staff was injured when he was knocked to the ground and trampled on.
“The incident is of serious concern to us and we have launched a full investigation into the behaviours of everyone who was involved.”