A psychiatrist has told a court he examined an Aberdeen woman who is standing trial for murder and concluded she wasn’t suffering from psychiatric illness.
Dr Alasdair Forrest, 30, told the High Court in Edinburgh that Sharyn Stewart, 53, doesn’t have a mental health condition.
The Dundee University graduate told a jury how he examined Stewart in the months following her arrest for allegedly murdering Alan Cowie, 65, at his Aberdeen home in January last year.
Dr Forrest, who works at Royal Cornhill Hospital in Aberdeen, was speaking on the fifth day of proceedings against Stewart.
He was answering questions from defence advocate Stephen O’Rourke QC.
Mr O’Rourke asked: “Did you conclude she had a psychiatric illness?”
Dr Forrest, who works as a registrar, replied: “I concluded she did not have a psychiatric illness.”
Stewart denies charges of attempting to murder Mr Cowie in April 2017 and murdering him last year.
Jurors at the start of proceedings heard an agreed statement of evidence which states that Stewart killed Mr Cowie.
However, her lawyers have entered a special defence which states that, at the time of the January 2 incident, she wasn’t responsible for murdering Mr Cowie because her “ability to determine or control her conduct was substantially impaired by reason of abnormality of mind”.
Yesterday, Dr Forrest was being asked questions about an April 2018 report which he wrote following a meeting he had with Stewart.
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The court heard how the report detailed that Stewart said she had been adopted at the age of three and she did not know her birth parents.
It was also told Stewart had a “disruptive” childhood.
Her father would drink to “excess” while her mother “held things together”.
Jurors heard that she was diagnosed with tuberculosis as a youngster and received treatment for the condition.
Prosecutors claim that on April 18 2017 Stewart attempted to murder Mr Cowie at his home by pushing him and repeatedly kicking him on his head and body. She also allegedly placed a plastic bag over his head and allegedly restricted his breathing.
The Crown also claim that on January 2 2018 Stewart murdered Mr Cowie by striking him on the head and body with a bottle before knocking him to the ground.
It is also claimed that, during this assault, Stewart stood on Mr Cowie’s neck and restricted his breathing.
She has pleaded not guilty to both charges.
The trial before judge Lord Pentland continues.
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