An opera lover at the Wigmore Hall allegedly rammed a disabled woman with her own wheelchair when she accused him of taking her seat.

Graham Kern, 57, told concertgoer Alison Harvey “I’m not moving” when she asked him to vacate the designated disabled space, a jury at the Old Bailey was told.

He allegedly told her to fold up her chair and stand for the concert, insisting he was entitled to the space.

Miss Harvey, who is registered disabled, pointed out she had reserved the space for her wheelchair in front of a seat for her carer, but then she was “sent flying” by Kern, the court heard.

The incident happened just moments before German tenor Jonas Kaufmann was due to sing in January this year.

Miss Harvey said she had been to hundreds of concerts at the venue, but has not been back since the alleged attack.

“I was so shocked by what he was saying, I couldn’t believe this from a normal person at Wigmore Hall, a place where it’s so old-fashioned, I regarded it as like a home,” she said.

“It’s somewhere you just feel totally safe and lovely, it’s always been a joy to be there.”

Fighting back tears, Miss Harvey said she found Kern standing in the space she had booked at the back of the concert hall.

“I think I said excuse me, I think you are in my seat,” she said.

“He just came out with a stream of things. He said ‘I’m not moving, I’ve got the standing seat’ and I said ‘this is the wheelchair section’.

“He said, ‘I saw you standing outside — you can stand up’. He said, ‘you can put your wheelchair in the corner and you can stand up for the concert like I’ve got to’.”

Miss Harvey told the jury she had part of her foot removed following a medical accident nearly a decade ago. While she is able to stand she cannot do so for long periods.

She said she had stood briefly that evening in the concert hall foyer to buy a programme to avoid the “scrum” but returned to her chair for the concert.

“By this time I was stood up trying to sort stuff out with the wheelchair between us,” she said.

“I was so shocked at what he was saying because he looked perfectly normal. He wasn’t shouting but it was very controlling, ‘you do this, you do that’.”

She told the court she was sent sprawling when Kern refused to move out of her way.

“He put his hands on the wheelchair ... and he rammed it at me,” she said. “I absolutely know he did that. There’s absolutely no need to make it up. I went flying to the right. It did happen very quickly and I went completely flying.”

Prosecutor Paul Simon said Miss Harvey got tangled in her wheelchair on the way down, landing painfully on her right knee and injuring her shoulder.

Miss Harvey said she was helped to her feet by other audience members and tried to stay for the show she had been looking forward to.

However, she eventually had to leave and was treated by paramedics.

Mr Simon said when police approached Kern with the allegation he replied: “Oh really.”

Kern, of Barbican, denies assault occasioning actual bodily harm. The trial continues.