A man has told a court how a murder accused looked “stressed” when he told him how he needed a change of clothes after being involved in a “fight”.
Kyle Swannie, 24, told a jury on Thursday how Ross MacDougall, 32, looked “unrestful” when he came to his home in Lerwick, Shetland, in the early hours of July 30 last year.
The High Court in Edinburgh heard Mr Swannie say Mr MacDougall was in the company of 28-year-old Dawn Smith during the visit.
Mr MacDougall and Ms Smith are standing trial on a charge of murdering a woman called Tracy Walker in Lerwick on July 30 2019.
Mr Swannie, also from Lerwick, told the court that Mr MacDougall – who had visited the property on a number of previous occasions – didn’t appear to be acting normally when he turned up at the property at around 5am.
He said: “He looked stressed. He was just kinda frantic. He was usually chirpy and happy.”
When prosecution lawyer Steven Borthwick asked Mr Swannie to explain how Mr MacDougall was behaving, Mr Swannie replied: “Unrestful. He couldn’t rest if that makes sense. He couldn’t sit still. He was pacing about.
“I knew something was up. It was a very weird time to be coming to my door for a start.”
Mr Swannie was giving evidence on the seventh day of proceedings against Mr MacDougall and Ms Smith, who both deny murdering Ms Walker and other four other charges.
Mr Swannie told Mr Borthwick that he had been sleeping when he heard knocking on his bedroom window and his door and then a voice calling his name.
The witness told Mr Borthwick that when he opened the door, he found Mr MacDougall and Ms Smith.
He said that Mr MacDougall wanted to come into his house.
Mr Swannie added: “He said he needed a change of clothes. He said he had been in a fight and he needed a change of clothes.”
Mr Swannie told the court that he agreed to the request and gave Mr MacDougall jogging bottoms and a Hugo Boss Polo T-Shirt.
He also told the jury that he gave Mr MacDougall a Tesco carrier bag which he placed his other clothes in.
Mr Swannie then told the court that later the same day, he was about to start community service when he learned that there had been a “killing” and he informed his supervisor that he had to contact the police.
The court heard that Mr Swannie then spoke to police.
Prosecutors claim that on July 30 2019 at Ladies Drive, Ms Smith had “without reasonable excuse or lawful authority” a knife. It is stated that this was “contrary to the Criminal Law (Consolidation) Scotland Act 1995.”
The second charges alleges that on the same date at the same location, Mr MacDougall and Ms Smith assaulted Ms Walker and inflicted “blunt force trauma to her head by means unknown.”
It’s also alleged that the two accused compressed her neck with their hands and that they struck her repeatedly on the neck and hand with “a knife or similar instrument.”
Prosecutors claim that the two accused attempted to rob her of money and that they “did murder her.”
Both Mr MacDougall and Ms Smith, have entered not guilty pleas to all charges on the indictment.
The trial before judge Lord Uist continues.
