A FORENSIC scientist described to a court yesterday a trail of blood

where a woman was found shot dead.

Mr Alastair Burt, 35, told the High Court in Glasgow that Ms Sally

Cannon, 20, of Kelburn Terrace, Port Glasgow, had been shot in the mouth

and twice in the head.

Mr John Hemphill, 30, her boyfriend, denies shooting her and murdering

her. Mr Hemphill claims alibi.

He further denies being concerned in the supply of heroin and cannabis

resin between August 1992, and April last.

Police Constable Cameron Baillie, 27, told the court he found Mr

Hemphill at a car park with blood on his face, hands and jeans and that

he became emotional and asked: ''What kind of beast would do that?''

The policeman said Mr Hemphill told him he had left Ms Cannon in their

home on Saturday afternoon, April 22. He found her early on the Sunday

morning on the first floor landing.

Constable Baillie said Mr Hemphill told him she had been ''calling at

doors for help''.

Mr Burt told Mrs Fiona Reith, prosecuting, he went to the scene early

on April 23 and found blood on the stairs. There was heavy blood

staining on the carpet in Ms Cannon's ground flat house and a finger

print in a blood stain low down on a wall.

Mr Burt said it was the deceased's fingerprint and had probably

happened when she was scrambling about on the floor after being shot in

the mouth.

The forensic scientist then told of blood staining going all way to

the top flat and then heavier staining when she had come down to the

first floor landing.

Mr Burt said she had probably been ''down'' when she was shot twice on

the head behind the right ear.

He said he later examined a jacket and jeans belonging to the accused

and found stains of blood which could have come from the deceased.

Mr Burt agreed smears of blood could have been caused when the accused

held the dying woman in his arms, but in his opinion droplets on the

jacket and jeans had happened at the time she was shot.

He said: ''You require energy to break up blood.'' And he added the

force of the bullets striking the girl would propel the blood in

droplets.

Asked by Mr Donald Findlay, QC, defending, if all the spots on the

jacket and jeans were caused the same way, Mr Burt replied: ''I could

not tell.''

Mr Findlay suggested that the spots could have come from a last

violent attempt by Ms Cannon to clear her airway and asked: ''Did the

spots result from a gunshot?'' Mr Burt said: ''I could not say for

certain.''

Re-examined by Mrs Reith he said: ''It was likely they were.''

Acting sergeant Ronald Withers, 50, of the police firearms section,

said he was given three bullets after a post-mortem examination on the

woman. He described them as .38 lead bullets and all had been fired from

the same gun.

Mr Withers said the gun used had not been found but in his opinion it

was an Enfield revolver of the type issued during the Second World War.

He said this type of gun was often used in target practice.

The trial continues.