A WITNESS in the trial of two men accused of murdering three members of a family in a deliberate house fire yesterday denied he was a bare-faced liar.

Lee McCarthy, 31, from Helensburgh, told the High Court in Glasgow that he gave a number of statements to police in the days and months following the blaze on July 24, 2011, in which Thomas Sharkey, his 21-year-old son and eight-year-old daughter died. He said it was not until March 2012 that he told detectives everything he knew.

Mr McCarthy was giving evidence at the trial of Scott Snowden, 37, and Robert Jennings, 50, who deny murdering Mr Sharkey, 55, his son Thomas junior, and daughter Bridget at their home in Helensburgh, Argyll.

Defence QC Donald Findlay, representing Snowden, took Mr McCarthy through the first five police statements and asked why he had not mentioned in any of them that he believed Snowden was involved in the Sharkey fire. Mr McCarthy said: "I was worried about my family's safety."

At one point Mr Findlay described Mr McCarthy as "a bare-faced liar" and later said he was "manipulative and twisted".

Mr McCarthy admitted giving out information to the police in "dribs and drabs" but added: "I told the truth in the end."

He said he told the police about Snowden's alleged involvement in the fires when he gave a statement in May 2012. Asked why he had lied to the police, he replied: "I'm not sure."

Then he added: "I kept my mouth shut about a lot of things and I should just have told the truth."

Snowden and Jennings deny all the charges against them. The trial continues.