Actor Charlie Allan with friend Russell Crowe Actor Charlie Allan with friend Russell Crowe MOVIE tough guy Charlie Allan has been bat...
Actor Charlie Allan with friend Russell Crowe
MOVIE tough guy Charlie Allan has been battered in a turf war between two feared biker gangs.
The 49-year-old actor was attacked minutes before he was about to play a gig with his band.
The Scot was badly beaten by two men outside a hotel in Stirling and spent the rest of the night being treated in hospital.
The thugs who carried out the attack were members of The Blue Angels – a Glasgow gang who want to stop their rivals recruiting in Scotland.
They accused Charlie – who has appeared in blockbusters Gladiator and Robin Hood – of helping The Outlaws set up their first chapter in Dundee last year.
Yesterday, he didn’t want to go into detail about the vicious assault. But he said: “The attack was frightening and left me quite traumatised.”
Biker Charlie, who plays the bagpipes with Scottish folk band Saor Patrol, was booked to perform at a festival organised by The Outlaws. But he pulled his band out of next month’s three-day rock and blues event in Derby after he was beaten.
Police have claimed that The Outlaws – the world’s biggest biker gang – are involved in drug dealing, murder and prostitution.
The Blue Angels are so far Scotland’s only bike gang and are also said to be linked to organised crime.
A source said: “Two guys from The Blue Angels turned up at the hotel to threaten Charlie and warn him to end his relationship with The Outlaws.
“He’s not the kind of guy to just sit back and be intimidated and told them what they could do with their threats.
“But the men then really set about Charlie and left him a bad way. Doctors decided to keep him in hospital overnight because the beating was so severe.
“Charlie has decided getting caught in the crossfire of a war between the two gangs wasn’t worth the hassle and he has too much to lose.
“He distanced himself from The Outlaws and is concentrating on his own projects.”
Charlie is head of the Clanranald Trust, who promote Scotland’s heritage, and is building a medieval fort in Duncarron, Stirlingshire, to educate schoolchildren.
His 16-year battle to raise funds to help build the project was the subject of STV documentary Charlie’s Army last Tuesday. He also raises cash to help fund his dream by hiring his 160-strong army for Hollywood fight scenes.
Oscar-winning star Russell Crowe, who became friends with Charlie while filming Gladiator, appeared on the documentary.
The star managed to convince movie bosses to donate a battering ram from the set of Robin Hood for Duncarron. And Crowe vowed that he’d convince director Ridley Scott to consider using the venue in future films.
Last year, police revealed that The Outlaws had targeted Scotland.
In 2007, Hells Angel Gerry Tobin was shot dead on the M40 in Warwickshire and seven members of The Outlaws were convicted.
And in 2010, The Outlaws leader for Europe and Asia, Stuart Lawson, was jailed for five years for drug offences in Wales.
Last year, it was revealed that The Outlaws had set up their first chapter in Dundee. But the gang have a presence around the globe, with more than 200 chapters in Europe, Australia, Asia, the US and Canada.
Members wear black leather jackets with a crossed piston and skull motif while The Blue Angels logo is a skull in a winged helmet.
Police said their inquiries are continuing into the attack on Charlie.
