Witness testifies about mental health of author Steven Galloway’s accuser

VANCOUVER — A defendant in Steven Galloway’s defamation lawsuit says she was concerned about the potential for self harm by the woman who accused the author and former University of British Columbia professor of rape and sexual assault, which he denies.

Mandi Gray told the British Columbia Supreme Court trial that she had become a “safe person” for his accuser, a woman known as A.B., who had talked of a “suicide plan” during a phone conversation in November 2015.

Gray says A.B., whose name is subject to a publication ban, indicated she was upset because Galloway, the author of novels including “The Cellist of Sarajevo,” had called her multiple times within a short period of time.

Gray, now an assistant professor at Trent University, says A.B. expressed “suicidal ideation,” though Gray acknowledged hers was not a clinical assessment.