The jury in an alleged one-punch homicide trial has been shown CCTV footage of the final moments before Aberdeen dad Steven Johnson was found unresponsive in a city backstreet.
Derek Pearson is on trial at the High Court in Aberdeen accused of causing the death of Steven Johnson, 50, by chasing him down and attacking him on the city’s Carmelite Lane.
Pearson, 47, was drinking in The Scottish Embassy bar alongside his former partner Kathleen Cunningham on the evening of March 12 2023.
He is alleged to have flown into a jealous rage and run at Mr Johnson, pinned him against a wall of the lane and to have struggled with him.
It is claimed that during the struggle, Pearson repeatedly punched Mr Johnson to the head, causing him to fall to the ground whereby he became unconscious.
He later died from his injuries at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
Accused seen following pair out of city bar
Pearson is also accused of pushing Ms Cunningham to the ground where he straddled her and held her arms.
However, at the conclusion of the third day of the trial, Pearson was acquitted of assaulting Ms Cunningham, 34, by pushing her that night.
Pearson was additionally acquitted of a second count of kicking Ms Cunningham out of a moving car to the danger to her life at Berryden Road, Aberdeen.
On all remaining charges, Pearson denies all the charges against him and has lodged a special defence of self defence.
Jurors were shown the final recorded movements of Steven Johnson on the night he died following him meeting Kathleen Cunninham at The Scottish Embassy bar.
The footage showed that, as Mr Johnson and Ms Cunningham chatted intimately in front of her former partner Derek Pearson, things became heated within the bar and the pair left at around 10:45pm.
The pair were followed 52 seconds later by Pearson, the footage showed.
Pearson told police he had acted in ‘self defence’
CCTV footage from a series of cameras around Carmelite Lane caught glimpses of the trio as a scuffle broke out between Pearson and Ms Cunningham.
Another male voice can be heard, and an altercation is understood to have taken place between Pearson and Mr Johnson.
The footage shows an unknown woman then dash into The Scottish Embassy and staff and customers are seen to run out in the direction of Carmelite Lane.
Jurors were then shown mobile phone camera footage taken by trial witness Theano Georgiadi in which she focusses the camera on Pearson and is heard to state “that’s him”.
In the footage, Steven Johnson lies unresponsive on the street nearby.
Evidence was heard by PC Regan Watson who arrested Pearson on suspicion of assault when police arrived on the scene.
PC Watson said that Pearson stated that he was “using self defence” and that the male on the ground had been “kissing his partner”.
Witness claims punch was ‘unprovoked’
But evidence was also heard by witness Thomas Breslin, 21, who described Pearson’s alleged assault on Mr Johnson as “completely unprovoked”.
Asked by advocate depute Margaret Barron what happened next, Mr Breslin said he saw Pearson punch Mr Johnson on either his jaw or face.
Mr Breslin said: “He seemed to fall and hit his head off a car and then hit his head off the cobblestones.”
During cross-examination, Pearson’s defence advocate, David Moggach KC, asked Mr Breslin whether he had seen Mr Johnson touch Pearson prior to the punch.
“Yes, but not in a forceful manner,” Mr Breslin replied.
“Did he put his hands on the accused?” Mr Moggach asked.
“Yes,” he replied, before adding: “He would have had to put his hands on the accused.”
The trial, before Graham Buchanan, continues.
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