A MAN found dead at a cannabis farm had suffered extensive skull fractures, a murder trial heard and a blood-stained golf club lay nearby in the flat.
Pathologist Dr Marjorie Turner said the dead man, Paul Cunningham, also had a distinctive bruise on his arm which could have been caused by the shaft of the club.
Dr Turner said she was called to the flat in Haghill, Glasgow, to view the body, where Mr Cunningham, 35, had been found lying beside a mattress in his living room, before performing a post mortem the following day.
The High Court in Edinburgh heard the bedroom of the flat had been given over to the cultivation of cannabis plants.
Dr Turner said Mr Cunningham had been struck at least eight times causing "extensive" fractures and bleeding inside his skull. Tests also showed he had a blood alcohol level three times the driving limit, which might have impaired his ability to defend himself. His body also revealed traces of cannabis use.
The trial also heard of an earlier row at Hogmanay in which a golf club was used.
Shop worker Gavin Williamson, 25, said he had been seeing in the New Year with friend Stuart Patterson when a man he didn't know came to the door. Later the man ignored Mr Patterson when he told him he should leave and Mr Patterson threw him out, after a struggle in the hallway.
Stuart Patterson, 27, and wife Kimberley Reid, 25, both of Glasgow, deny murdering Mr Cunningham in his flat on February 8.
It is alleged Mr Cunningham was beaten to death with a golf club before the pair made off with cannabis pants and £20.
Mr Patterson and Ms Reid are also accused of attempting to defeat the ends of justice by trying to arrange a false alibi for him.
Both face charges of having offensive weapons: a golf club in the case of Mr Patterson and a bottle in the case of Ms Reid.
The two are also accused of being concerned in the supply of herbal cannabis in January and February this year. The trial continues.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article