A MAN has been charged with an attempted murder bid in a tenement close in Dundee — and then allegedly hiding in a wardrobe to avoid detection.
John McGrandle is accused of trying to kill David Kettles in a block of flats in the city last year.
Following the attack, McGrandle is then said to have left the building and hidden himself away inside a cupboard at a property just over a mile-and-a-half away in a bid to avoid being found by the police.
He will stand trial on the claims next month.
It is alleged that during the incident the 42-year-old pushed Mr Kettles down the stairs inside a close on Court Street North on November 18.
Mr Kettles is then said to have been struck on the body with a knife by the accused. In the charge it is stated that McGrandle did “previously evince malice and ill will” towards Mr Kettles.
McGrandle is also facing a further three separate charges.
The first is an accusation of attempting to pervert the course of justice.
It is claimed that McGrandle ditched the knife used in the alleged attack in a hedge.
It is also claimed that McGrandle hid in a wardrobe at a property in Dundee’s Brantwood Avenue, near the Law.
Court papers state that this was done in an attempt to “avoid detection, arrest and prosecution” from pursuing police officers.
The other two charges relate to claims that he assaulted a police constable and that he struggled with police officers.
McGrandle appeared at the High Court in Glasgow for a preliminary hearing on March 15.
A trial has now been set for McGrandle at the same court on May 16.
According to the latest Police Scotland figures there were two reported attempted murders across the city of Dundee in the first nine months of 2015/16.
That’s the same number as were recorded in 2014/15.
Both incidents from 2015/16 were detected by officers, but one case from the previous year remains undetected.
In total, between April and December 2015, Dundee had 172 ‘group one’ crimes, which includes murder, serious assault and robbery and assault.
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