A teenager accused of a double stabbing denied he had borrowed £1,000 from one of his alleged victims.
However, when cross-examined by fiscal depute Alex Swain on the second day of his jury trial, 19-year-old Dylan Thorpe, of Strathpeffer, admitted there was a “debt” of £60.
However, for legal reasons, he was unable to tell Inverness Sheriff Court what the money was for.
Re-examined by his lawyer, Graham Mann, Thorpe agreed the money had not been lent to him but it was “for some kind of other transaction”.
He also pleaded not guilty to stabbing 26-year-old fisherman Jordan Megabhandu.
Mr McWhinney, who has since died from an unrelated cause, suffered a punctured lung and chest bleeding from a stab wound to his back as well as other wounds.
Megabhandu sustained an arm injury.
Thorpe was also prevented from telling the jury about “previous incidents” also for legal reasons.
‘I was in fear of my life’
But he said he was “scared” of Mr McWhinney and claimed it was his former friend who had attacked him with a knife.
Thorpe said he had managed to disarm Mr McWhinney despite being grabbed by Mr Megabhandu.
He told the jury: “I twisted the blade in his hand and snapped it. I injured my hands holding it. Then I was swinging the blade around and struck them with it.
“I was not aiming. I thought these boys were going to kill me. I was in fear of my life. Then I ran home. I didn’t know I had injured Jordan until the police told me.”
The Dylan Thorpe trial was unable to proceed today for legal reasons and was adjourned until Friday.