A MURDER accused has told a jury that he had nothing to do with the killing of 85-year-old Eleanor Whitelaw.
Polish national Robert Buczek, 24, who was giving evidence through an interpreter, told the High Court in Glasgow: "I've never in my life hurt a woman."
Buczek denies murdering Mrs Whitelaw at her home at 30 Morningside Grove, Edinburgh, on July 11, last year, by stabbing her in the neck with scissors and stealing stamps and a box of spoons.
Mrs Whitelaw was found lying on the floor covered in blood by her husband of 60 years when he returned from shopping just after 4pm.
Forensic experts who examined the house found DNA matching that of Buczek on a pair of bloodstained scissors and a bottle of water.
Buczek, who came to Edinburgh two years ago looking for work, was asked by his defence QC Brian McConnachie: "Did you go to 30 Morningside Grove and attack Mrs Whitelaw," and replied: "No. I never went to that house. I was never there."
He admitted working as a labourer in a house just round the corner in Craiglea Place and said he went there on July 11 around 1pm and stayed for maybe 30 minutes before leaving. He told the court he was there to collect wages he was owed.
Buczek told the jury he had 'no idea" how a bottle and a pair of scissors with his DNA on them were found in the house.
Mr McConnachie said: "It may be suggested that one explanation is that you held the scissors while you stabbed Mrs Whitelaw," and he replied: "No. Never in my life.
"I'ver never been there in my life and I never attacked that woman in her house."
Buczek was then asked: "Did you have anything at all to do with the death of this lady," and said: "No I never had anything to do with it and I'm very sorry that lady has gone.
He was asked where he had been between 3pm and 4.30pm on July 11, last year and replied: " I was either at home or in the west end."
Prosecutor Alex Prentice QC asked Buczek:how his DNA came to be on the scissors and he replied: "No, I'm not able to explain that."
The trial before judge Lord Matthews 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