A murder accused has told a court he would never have thought of taking on the man he allegedly fatally attacked in a fight.
Bohdan Cieslar, 59, agreed that Aleksander Smerdel was taller, heavier and 15 years younger than him.
He described 44-year-old Mr Smerdel in court as being a strong man, stating: “He was capable of lifting heavy sofas.”
Cieslar’s defence counsel Ian Duguid QC asked him if he would ever think of taking him on in a fight and he replied: “Never.”
Cieslar told the High Court in Edinburgh: “He has assaulted me so many times… I never even hit him back, nothing.”
He has denied murdering Mr Smerdel at the flat they lived in at 58 Donside Court, Aberdeen, on December 27 last year by repeatedly striking him on the body with a knife.
Cieslar has lodged a special defence claiming that he acted in self defence, having been attacked by the deceased.
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He told the court Mr Smerdel went to grab him by the neck and he fell on to a computer table with a knife in his right hand.
He said the other man lost his balance and fell next to him and he thought the knife had entered his stomach.
Mr Duguid asked him: “How did it enter his body?”.
Cieslar replied: “He fell on to it.”
He said that Mr Smerdel sustained a further injury to his arm when he got up and wanted to hit him as he was shielding his head.
Cieslar said it all happened very quickly but he then saw blood spurting from Mr Smerdel’s arm.
He said the other man took a step or two in his direction before leaving the room.
He told the court through a Polish translator: “I wasn’t aware it was fatal. I thought he was maybe on his way to pick up tools.
“He attacked me in the past with tools.”
The trial before judge Lord Pentland continues.
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