A murder accused has denied making up a story that his best pal’s “jealous anger” led to the killing of Arbroath man Steven Donaldson.
Callum Davidson told jurors at the High Court in Edinburgh that he had not fabricated a version of events that co-accused Steven Dickie’s reaction to trouble between Tasmin Glass and her oil worker ex Mr Donaldson was behind an attack on the 27-year-old at Kirriemuir’s Peter Pan playpark last June.
Davidson, Dickie and Glass all deny murdering Mr Donaldson on June 6 or 7 last year and setting fire to him and his car at Kinnordy Loch nature reserve on the outskirts of Kirriemuir.
On the 17th day of the trial, Davidson took to the stand for the second day of evidence in his own defence.
He was questioned by Dickie’s senior counsel, Ian Duguid QC, firstly about a baseball bat which he had collected from his cousin Michael Davidson’s home on the night of June 6.
Davidson has told the trial he had been asked by Dickie to get the “thingy”, adding that he knew he meant the bat because of previous requests by his co-accused to get “the thingy”.
Mr Duguid suggested to the accused his version of events that Dickie had walked up Kirrie Hill with the bat concealed down his back, then taken it to Kinnordy in Mr Donaldson’s BMW before striking him with it and breaking it, made no sense.
The QC put it to Davidson: “The fact of the matter is he (Dickie) didn’t leave any of his DNA on the bat because he never touched the bat?”
“No,” replied Davidson.
Mr Duguid then put it to the accused that evidence he previously gave about the reason for the two men going to Kirrie Hill was because of Dickie’s “jealous anger” was fabricated, which Davidson replied was not the case.
Davidson added: “It’ll not be the first time things have led one thing to another in the case of Steven and love rivals.”
The trial yesterday heard that Davidson saw a “crazed” look in Dickie’s eyes after seeing him launch a frenzied attack on Mr Donaldson in the Peter Pan playpark.
Davidson admitted punching Mr Donaldson but claimed he was pushed aside by a “roaring” Dickie after they went to Kirrie Hill, where Mr Donaldson was involved in a row with their co-accused Glass.
She drove away from the scene before Dickie launched the attack through the window of the car, pulling away with blood on his hands and a knife in one of them, Davidson claimed.
Davidson told the court there was a “rammy” between the two men after he called Dickie a “******* idiot”, with his co-accused going “off the heid”.
In answer to questions from his legal counsel, advocate Jonathan Crowe, Davidson said: “Steven started to shout ‘move, move, move’ and by that time Tasmin was gone.”
Dickie was “roaring” in the background before he then leaned through the window and started striking Mr Donaldson, he added.
“I started shouting let’s get a move on, but he wasn’t for stopping like,” Davidson said.
“He then stopped, pulled himself out and I saw the blood on his hands. It was the blood from the boy in the car.
“I seen the knife in his left hand.
“It’s something giving somebody a slap, but that was a whole different ball game.”
The trial, before Lord Pentland and a jury of eight women and seven men, continues.
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