Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Man goes on trial accused of attempting to murder daughter’s ex-boyfriend on Aberdeen street

Christopher Willett outside Aberdeen High Court
Christopher Willett outside Aberdeen High Court

A man has gone on trial accused of attempting to murder his daughter’s ex-boyfriend by striking him with an axe outside his workplace.

John Quantrell is alleged to have attacked Christopher Willett on Mansfield Road and Sinclair Road in Torry on September 11 last year by smashing windows in a car he was in and later speeding towards him in a vehicle and hitting him.

Yesterday the High Court in Aberdeen heard from Mr Willett, 36, who claimed he went into “survival instinct” and thought he would die if he didn’t act urgently.

He told the court that he had been in a relationship with Mr Quantrell’s daughter between December 2004 and September 2015 but that their parting was acrimonious and her family had never liked him.

Advocate depute Eric Robertson asked him what happened as he left his workplace of Trojan Crates in Torry on the day in question with colleague Jason Steele.


>> Keep up to date with the latest news with The P&J newsletter


He said: “As we went into the car there was a bang against his car.

“‘I said to Jason ‘that car has just hit your car.’

“The person on their passenger side came round across to the passenger side window.

“I thought ‘what is going on’, I thought it was some sort of road rage.

“The next thing I know the window is starting to get hit.”

He then claimed the glass was smashed with a hatchet and the man swung four blows with the weapon against his head, chest, legs and arms.

Mr Willetts added: “It became survival instinct and I thought to myself if you stay here you are dead.

“I thought get your feet out of the window, better they get hit than the head, neck or throat.

“At some point I did manage to get out of the car.”

He claimed that after removing his assailant’s hood and scarf he realised it was Quantrell.

Following this he claimed the next thing he could remember was waking up in the street and being treated by paramedics.

Representing Quantrell, of Regensburg Court in Aberdeen, defence counsel David Moggach questioned his version of events.

He said: “Mr Quantrell saw you and stated he wanted to speak to you, it might have been on pleasant terms but he wanted to speak to you.”

Mr Willett replied: “That is 100% not right, the first I recognised him was when I got out of the car.”

Mr Moggach then suggested the gaps in his memory including not knowing how he got out of the car were implausible.

He said: “I am only telling you things I am 100% sure of.”

Quantrell, 65, denies the charge against him.

The trial, before Lord Clark, continues.