A man told his wife he “enjoyed” a Christmas party, hours after allegedly sexually assaulting and attempting to rape a woman following the event, a trial has heard.
Andrew Murray, 51, is alleged to have attempted to rape a woman following an after-party at a flat he rented on Union Grove in Aberdeen in December 2018, having earlier attended a party at Pittodrie.
It is alleged he sexually assaulted and attempted to rape the woman, who can’t be named for legal reasons, while she was unable to give or without consent due to being asleep or unconscious and drunk.
And it is further alleged Murray attempted to pervert the course of justice by trying to destroy evidence and avoid detection by removing bedding from the address, changing his clothing, driving to his other address in Buckie and showering.
Murray, of Linn Avenue, Buckie, denies the charges against him and lodged a special defence of consent.
Joyce Murray’s evidence
On the second day of the trial, which got under way on Thursday at the High Court in Aberdeen, Joyce Murray, the accused’s wife, took to the witness stand.
Mrs Murray described meeting her husband later in the day after the alleged incident in the early hours of the morning.
Asked by advocate depute Chris Fyffe how he appeared, the witness replied: “He looked fine.”
Mr Fyffe said: “Was there any indication there was anything wrong or unusual?”
She replied: “No.”
The advocate depute asked: “Did you ask him at all about the night out?”
Mrs Murray replied: “Yes. He said he enjoyed it.”
The court heard Andrew Murray and his wife lived in Buckie, but the accused also rented a flat on Union Grove which he used when working in the area, and which he had hosted an after-party in on the night in question.
Mrs Murray also told the court she had been visiting a family member overnight on the night of the party, and had not been expecting anybody to be at their home in Buckie until she returned there with her husband later.
Mr Fyffe said: “We know in this case that Andrew Murray was arrested at 2.10pm on Kingfisher Drive in Inverurie. Did you eventually, later that night, go back home?”
Mrs Murray said she did, and Mr Fyffe asked if she noticed anything unusual.
‘Towels were wet’
She replied: “The washing machine was on.”
Asked if she noticed anything in the bathroom, she said: “The towels were wet.”
Defence counsel David Moggach put it to Mrs Murray that there was “nothing surprising” about her husband going home to Buckie.
She agreed.
999 call
The court was also played a recording of a 999 call made by the complainer in the case to the Scottish Ambulance Service at around 4am on the morning in question.
During the recording, which lasted around 20 minutes, she could be heard sobbing.
Police witness
Evidence was also given by PC Daniel McCallum who told the court he arrived on the scene on Union Grove shortly after 5am.
Under questioning from Mr Fyffe, he told the court he and a colleague attended at the flat door but had no response from within.
He said he kicked the door in after hearing a noise which “sounded like a washing machine had started rotating” which caused him concern.
On entering the flat, which was unoccupied, it was discovered the sound was the dishwasher.
PC McCallum went on to tell the court officers had discovered a white pillowcase in the communal stairwell leading up to Murray’s flat, as well as a second pillowcase and a grey duvet cover outside in the communal back garden area.
Mr Moggach, cross-examining PC McCallum, asked the officer about the back garden and said: “‘Communal’ would presumably suggest it’s an area open to all the other flat users.”
The officer replied: “Correct.”
The trial, before Judge Graham Buchanan, continues.
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