A man accused of attempting to murder his own mother has told a court that his 78-year-old relative was “confused” when she accused him of the crime.
Bruce Davis told a jury he had been trying to help the wheelchair-bound Thomasina McAskill after she fell off a couch on New Year’s Day last year, but had fallen on top of her.
He denied trying to strangle her with a jumper, saying he had been trying to lift her by the garment.
Davis denies attempting to murder his mother Thomasina McAskill at her home in Smithton Villas, Smithton.
He was the only witness for the defence to give evidence on the fourth day of the trial at the High Court in Inverness.
In evidence led by defence counsel Graeme Brown, Davis told the court he and his mother had both been drinking before the incident in her living room on January 1 2023.
He said: “I heard a yell. I looked over and my mother was on the floor between the couch and the table.
‘I fell on top of her’
“I moved the table out of the way but the top had come off it. I went between the couch and the table. I stumbled over my mother and fell on top of her.”
Explaining the sequence of events again, he said: “I went over to where my mother was, I stumbled over her legs and I fell on top of her. I don’t know if I actually landed fully on top of her.”
Davis said he had tried to lift his mother with his arms under hers but had not been able to get her back onto the couch.
“I couldn’t hold her,” he said adding: “I tried a few times.”
He said: “Then I tried to lift her with her jumper I think the jumper was ripping – I thought it was totally ripped, I took that over her head.”
He continued: “I heard it rip. My mum says ‘you’re hurting me’ so I stopped.”
Davis said it was at this point that police knocked on the window.
The 53-year-old said he was “quite happy” to see the officers because “I thought they would help me with my mum”.
Asked why witnesses had described hearing “screams” from his mother’s home during the incident he said: “When I fell on top of her she went ‘get off me’. She did yell when she fell on the floor and when I was pulling her up with her jumper.”
‘I didn’t realise how injured she was’
Under cross-examination from advocate depute Shahid Latif, Davis conceded that his alcohol consumption had prevented him from noticing her injuries and said: “I thought that I would be able to get my mother off the floor, I didn’t realise how injured she was.
“If I was sober I would have realised.”
He denied assaulting his mother and attempting to murder her and said: “I never, ever assaulted her, ever.”
Asked why Ms McAskill, who had since died, had given a statement to police saying that he had, Davis replied: “I just think she was confused.”
He later added: “She is mixed up about what happened – she misconstrued me helping her.”
The trial before Lord Summers, continues.
