A man has denied killing an Aberdeen dad by punching him during an altercation in the city centre.
Derek Pearson has gone on trial at the High Court in Aberdeen accused of causing the death of Steven Johnson, 50, by chasing him down and attacking him on the city’s Carmelite Street.
Pearson was drinking in The Scottish Embassy bar alongside his former partner Kathleen Cunningham on the evening of March 12 2023.
He is alleged to have flown into a jealous rage and run at Mr Johnson, to have pinned him against a wall of the lane and to have struggled with him.
It is claimed that during the struggle, Pearson repeatedly punched Mr Johnson to the head, causing him to fall to the ground whereby he became unconscious and died.
Accused faces assault charges on partner
Pearson, 47, faces further accusations that he assaulted Ms Cunningham that same evening.
He is accused of placing her in a headlock, punching her to the head, pushing her against a car, kicking her and pushing to the ground where he straddled her and held her arms.
Pearson also faces one charge of assault relating to Ms Cunningham, 34, by allegedly pushing her that night.
Other charges allege Pearson carried out a course of conduct that was abusive to Ms Cunningham by kicking her out of a moving car to the danger to her life at Berryden Road, Aberdeen.
The same charge accuses him of chocking Ms Cunningham to her in jury and to the danger to her life.
These incidents are alleged to have occurred between February 2020 and March 2023.
He denies all the charges against him.
On the first day of the trial on Tuesday, jurors heard from Ms Cunningham, who told the court that she remembered very little from the evening in question.
Ms Cunningham stated that she “just remembered a man being on the floor and not being able to wake him up”.
‘I can’t remember’
The jury was shown CCTV footage from The Scottish Embassy.
Footage showed Ms Cunningham meeting her aunt at around 4pm that day where they got chatting to Steven Johnson.
Pearson entered the pub a couple of hours later and “friction” began to build between him.
This was because Ms Cunningham continued to talk to Johnson after her aunt left the pub.
An altercation occurred both inside and outside the pub between Pearson and Ms Cunningham and she left with Mr Johnson in the direction of Carmalite Lane.
“Derek came out shouting at me and Steven Johnson,” she told advocate depute Margaret Barron.
“There was a fight but I can’t remember much, I was drunk and I think I bumped my head – there was a scuffle between me and Derek.”
During cross examination, from Pearson’s defence advocate David Moggach KC put it to Ms Cunningham that she and Steven Johnson had shared a kiss in Carmelite Lane and Pearson had caught them.
The lawyer claimed that Ms Cunningham then struck Pearson, beginning the course of events that ended in the death of Mr Johnson.
“Do you remember at all in the lane hitting Derek?” Mr Moggach asked.
“I can’t remember,” she replied, adding: “It seemed like I was very out of control myself.”
“Is it possible that you struck him?” the solicitor pressed.
“Yes,” Ms Cunningham replied.
Defence solicitor claims accused acted in self defence
Mr Moggach put it to Ms Cunningham that she had started the fight and that his client was trying to defend himself.
“No,” she replied.
“Do you accept that, if someone is being attacked, then they have the right to defend themselves?” Moggach asked her.
“If I was attacking him then yes,” Ms Cunningham said.
During redirection, the advocate depute asked Ms Cunningham if she remembered anything that happened in a doorway or afterwards.
“It all happened so quickly,” she replied, adding: “I just remember seeing Derek and getting hit and that was it.
“I just remember seeing Derek punching [Steven Johnson]. I think he punched him a couple of times.”
The trial, before Judge Graham Buchanan, continues.
For all the latest court cases in Aberdeen as well as crime and breaking incidents, join our Facebook group.