A WIDOWER has told of how he found his wife lying dying in a public park.
John Campbell, 56, was giving evidence at an examination of facts at the High Court in Glasgow into the alleged murder of his wife of 35 years, Jean.
He told advocate depute Alex Prentice QC, prosecuting, that he came home from a 12-hour night shift around 7.40am on December 14, 2013. and found their flat in Bellrock Street, Cranhill, empty, but all the lights on.
The former production manager said he then went out looking for his wife Jean, 53, and their six-month-old German Shepherd Kia.
He told the court he walked towards the park where his wife walked their pet and heard a dog barking.
Mr Campbell said: "When I got to the children's park the gate was closed and the dog was at the gate and I couldn't see Jean and I thought she was playing tricks and would leap out from behind as building.
"It was only when I began to scan the area I noticed Jean lying on the ground. I panicked and ran up.
"Jean was lying for the most part face down. I turned her over. There was some leaves or dirt on her face and |I wiped that clear. Her body was still warm. Her legs were freezing."
He said that she was wearing a black coat and pyjama top and was naked from the waist down.
Mr Campbell told the court that her pyjamas bottoms, socks and one flip flop were lying beside her.
Paul Ward, 21, is accused of murdering Mrs Campbell by repeatedly striking her on the head and body with a dog lead, at Cranhill Park, Cranhill, Glasgow, on December 13, 2013.
He has been deemed unfit to stand trial on mental health grounds and is detained in the State Hospital. The hearing is taking place with no jury and Ward is not present.
Mr Campbell said he gave his wife mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and believed she was breathing. He then phoned for the police and an ambulance.
At this point in his evidence Mr Campbell lost his composure as he told of how the police arrived and gave his wife mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and then the paramedics took over.
He told Mr Prentice: "Shortly after that they came over and told me that Jean was dead."
The court heard that the Campbells got Kia in July 2013 and that Mrs Campbell, who walked him when he husband was working nightshifts, found him a bit of a handful.
Mrs Campbell had suffered a burst blood vessel in the brain some years ago and as a result of this she could feel no pain down the right hand side of her body.
Mr Campbell added: "After that her temperament changed. Before she was quiet afterwards she didn't suffer fools easily. She got angry quite quickly."
Yvonne Leyden, 54, a neighbour of Mrs Campbell told the court she heard a scream and then a dog barking around 11pm on Friday, December 13.
Ms Leyden said: "It was a kind of angry scream as if they were angry with someone and then I heard a dog barking."
She was asked by Mr Prentice if this was unusual in Cranhill on a Friday night and replied: 'I thought it was a bit unusual, but I still thought nothing about it."
Ms Leyden said that minutes after she heard the sounds, Ward, who was a friend of her son Thomas Leyden , 23, rang her doorbell.
She said: "He had a DVD in his left hand and he was out of breath."
The hearing before judge Lord Matthews continues.
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