A FRIEND of an alleged murder victim yesterday told a court he was "like a wee brother" to her.

Stephanie Flanigan, 22, told the High Court in Glasgow she had known 16-year-old Liam Aitchison for a month or two.

She said the last time she saw him was November 22, 2011, before he went out with her ex-boyfriend Johnathan Mackinnon and Stefan Millar.

Miss Flanigan claimed she got a phone call from Mackinnon in the early hours of the following morning saying he had fought with Liam and asked if he got back to the house that he was staying at.

The witness was giving evidence at the trial of Mackinnon, from Elgin and Millar, from Inverness, both 22, who deny murdering Liam on the Isle of Lewis.

Advocate depute Iain McSporran, prosecuting, asked: "Were you a good friend of Liam?" Miss Flanigan replied: "He told me a lot of things, yes."

Asked if she was close to him she said: "Like a wee brother."

Miss Flanigan said that in the early hours of November 23, around 3am, Mackinnon phoned her while he was drunk.

She said Mackinnon told her they had been fighting with Liam and they left him and that he walked back to another friend, Peggy McLennan's house.

Mr McSporran asked: "What was the first thing he said to you?" The witness said: "He was asking if Liam got back okay."

Liam's body was found in a derelict property in the Steinish area of Stornoway after he had been reported missing by his girlfriend Ellen McLennan.

The trial continues.