A neighbour who heard screaming coming from a frail pensioner’s Inverness home thought somebody’s life was in danger as he looked in a window, a court has heard.
When police responded to a 999 call, they found 78-year-old Thomasina McAskill bloodied and bruised on the floor of her Smithton Villas living room.
She told an officer, “He hit me” and pointed to her son, Bruce Davis, who the policeman said “appeared to have blood on his hands”.
Davis, 52, is on trial for the attempted murder of his mother on New Year’s Day 2023 – a charge he denies along with another of threatening or abusive behaviour towards her on the same date.
On the second day of his trial at the High Court in Inverness, jurors heard from neighbours who were alerted to the pensioner’s plight by the sound of screams coming from her home.
Wheelchair user was ‘old and frail’
In evidence led by advocate depute Shahid Latif, Jordan McLean, who lived two houses down from Ms McAskill, said she was “small-framed, old and frail”.
He said the pensioner was usually seen being “pushed around in her wheelchair”.
When he heard “a scream that you would be concerned about” coming from her property as he passed, he looked in through the front window and spotted Davis striking downwards with two clenched fists.
“I could see the wheelchair and the wheelchair was empty,” he said.
Under questioning from defence counsel Graeme Brown Mr McLean said: “To begin with I wasn’t sure was he beating her, was he trying to help her?”
The court heard Mr McLean alerted another neighbour, William Leaver, who also heard screaming and looked in the window.
He told the jury: “It was like a scream like if you are in pain.”
Mr Leaver climbed onto a wall for a better view. He said: “I could see the old lady on the floor.”
He told the court he heard Davis shouting, “Shut up” and “Get up”.
The man described seeing Davis strike downwards with both hands once, prompting him to suggest they call 999.
‘It seemed like there was somebody’s life in danger’
“To me it seemed like there was somebody’s life in danger,” he said.
The trial also heard from a police officer who attended the scene in response to the 999 call.
PC Lee Soley told the court that when he turned up, he could see a topless Davis through the front window.
“He had his arm around her, around the neck/shoulder area, as if in a headlock,” the police witness explained.
“He was shouting again quite aggressively. She seemed to be trying to get out it, pushing away from him – pushing his arm.”
PC Soley added: “She didn’t want that arm around her neck, and she was maybe struggling to breathe.”
The officer banged on the window and told Davis to open the door, which he did – allowing the officer to get to Ms McAskill.
“It was quite apparent that she had injuries,” he told the jury.
“She had blood to her mouth. Lower face area. It appeared to be swollen and bruising to her eye and her jaw.
PC Soley said the elderly woman had also complained of soreness in her legs and was unable to stand.
‘Blood on his hands’
He said Davis “appeared intoxicated” and “appeared to have blood on his hands”.
The jury heard evidence that, when asked what had happened, Ms McAskill, who has since died, told the officer, “He hit me” and pointed to Davis who was described as “the only other person in the property”.
Ms McAskill also told police her son had been responsible for broken furniture in the living room, again stating: “He hit me.”
Under cross-examination from defence counsel Graeme Brown, PC Soley rejected a suggestion that what he had seen through the window was Davis putting his arms around his mother and kissing her.
The policeman responded: “I don’t believe that was the case. It was too aggressive.”
The trial, before Lord Summers, will continue on Tuesday.
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