UBC professor says Galloway accuser retracted statement to RCMP as she felt unsafe

Author and former University of British Columbia professor Steven Galloway, back second right, and his wife Katie Wagner, front left, are seen through a window as they leave B.C. Supreme Court with two unidentified people during a lunch break at his defamation lawsuit, in Vancouver, on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

VANCOUVER — A University of British Columbia creative writing professor says the woman who accused author Steven Galloway of sexual and physical assault gave a statement to police but retracted it a short time later out of concern they would contact him.

Annabel Lyon, who is now the director of the university’s school of creative writing, testified today in the trial where Galloway alleges he was defamed by the former student and others for publishing the unproven allegations.

Lyon is the first witness for defendant A.B., whose name is under a publication ban, and she told the court that faculty from the department met in November 2015 to discuss the allegations after the woman had relayed them to another professor.

Lyon says those in the meeting were “absolutely shocked” over the allegations, recalling a discussion that while A.B. had reported them to police, she later retracted the statement out of concern the RCMP were going to reach out to Galloway and she felt unsafe.

Galloway, the bestselling author of the novel “The Cellist of Sarajevo,” filed the lawsuit in 2018 against A.B. and several other defendants for statements that spread widely online alleging the assaults which he has denied.

He was fired his job as the creative writing chair and a former judge hired by the university later found the claims were unsubstantiated, while Galloway won an arbitration proceeding against the university in 2018.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 3, 2026