Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Mum of accused threw out clothes
THE mother of a Dundee man on trial for murder has admitted disposing of his blood-splattered clothes.
Arran Fender, 31, is accused of murdering Gary McMillan, 44, in the early hours of May 16 last year at the junction of Lawton Road and Lawton Terrace.
He denies the charges, claiming selfdefence. He denies other charges, including attempting to pervert the course of justice by giving his mother, Annie Hamilton, clothes and footwear he had been wearing during the incident.
Ms Hamilton, 53, told the High Court in Edinburgh she had been drinking with Fender at her flat in Landsdowne Court until around 2am on May 16.
She had later gone to the house of Jill Halliday — the mother of Fender’s child — at around 3.10am. Fender had shown up drunk at the property in Glenmarkie Terrace not long after Mr McMillan’s fatal stabbing and Ms Halliday had phoned Ms Hamilton to come round to try to calm him down.
By the time she arrived, Fender had left the property, but he returned around half an hour later. Prosecuting, advocate depute Murdo McTaggart asked Ms Hamilton: “Did you see any marks on his clothing?”
She replied: “Yes, I saw a drop of blood on his grey jogging bottoms.”
He then asked: “Did Arran say anything to you about what to do with that clothing?”
She responded: “No, I said I would take them and wash them. At that point, I thought that he was just fighting.” She was then asked: “What did you do with them?” She replied: “I put them down the bin chute.” Ms Robertson said she took the clothes out of the bin liner and saw they were “old”, so decided to throw them out. A police search found the trousers, a blue zip top and a pair of trainers in individual bags in communal bins at the multi. The High Court was read a police statement that she gave later on May 16, claiming Fender had, in fact, asked her to “get rid of” the clothes. However, she claims that she couldn’t remember telling the police that as that she was on a high dose of medication at the time. Fender denies all the charges against him. The trial, before Lady Carmichael, continues.