A RANGERS fan accused of murdering a rival Celtic supporter in a public house toilet yesterday told the Old Bailey a prosecution witness was responsible for the killing.
Joiner Brian Smart, 44, a father-of-one from Paisley, pointed the finger of guilt at Stephen Harper, who three weeks ago gave evidence for the Crown.
Giving his testimony yesterday, Mr Smart claimed that Mr Harper, 39, came out of the toilet and said he had just ''laid into'' victim Paul Cannon. Mr Smart said he was warned by Mr Harper to keep his mouth shut.
Mr Smart told the trial that Mr Cannon, 43, originally from County Wicklow, Eire, was drunk and falling over so he left him propped up against the toilet wall. He said Mr Cannon ''came down'' on him as he used the toilet at the Magnet Pub in Addlestone, Surrey so he helped him to his feet.
But after the Irishman collapsed again, he left him and went to order another drink at the bar.
The court has heard how Mr Cannon died from horrific internal injuries after being stamped on in the toilet of the Magnet in April last year.
It is claimed Mr Smart killed him after a long-running feud over ''conflicting football loyalties'' arising from their Old Firm rivalry. However, giving evidence, Mr Smart denied causing the injuries, and claimed Mr Cannon merely fell on him.
Mr Smart said soon afterwards Mr Harper, who has a history of mental problems, came out of the toilet. He said he asked Mr Harper, who was chewing an ice cube, what had happened and he replied: ''I just laid into him''.
Mr Smart, of Station Road, Addlestone, denies murder and manslaughter on April 17, 1998.
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