THE uncle of former Hearts and Dundee United footballer Ryan McGowan has told a jury that the man allegedly murdered by the footballer’s father was a “coward, a deserter and a rapist”.
Bernard McGowan, 63, giving evidence at the High Court in Edinburgh, said there was long-standing bad feeling between Owen Brannigan and his family, including his brother James.
James McGowan is on trial accused of Mr Brannigan’s murder at a house in Coatbridge in November 1999.
Bernard McGowan told prosecution lawyer Alex Prentice QC yesterday that he had known Mr Brannigan for many years.
Mr Prentice asked Mr McGowan: “Did you know Owen Brannigan?”
Mr McGowan, of Coatbridge, replied: “He’s a coward, a deserter and a rapist. That’s all I know about him.”
Mr Prentice then asked: “You did not like him?”
The joiner replied: “No.”
Mr McGowan, of Coatbridge, said James emigrated to Australia in 1980 but returned to attend their mother’s funeral on November 22, 1999.
Bernard McGowan said that his brother had come back to Scotland from his Australian home for a holiday earlier in the same year.
He added: “He would turn up and he wouldn’t tell you.”
James McGowan denies murdering Mr Brannigan and assaulting a man at a social club in Coatbridge days earlier in November 1999. His solicitor advocate has lodged a special defence of incrimination, which states Thomas Stewart, who is now dead, was responsible for the alleged murder.
The trial, which is being heard before judge Lady Scott, 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