‘My behaviour wasn’t stalking’
OBSESSION WITH EX IS DENIED BY MURDER ACCUSED
Court Reporter MURDER accused Trimaan Dhillon denied he was “utterly obsessed” with Alice Ruggles and slit her throat in a “jealous temper” after stalking her.
The lance corporal claims his ex died accidentally during a struggle in her bathroom after he turned up unexpectedly after they split.
Prosecutors labelled him a liar and said he had constructed his account of events to try to get away with murder.
Dhillon, 26, denies killing 24-yearold Alice then leaving her dead on her bathroom floor at her flat in Bensham, Gateshead, last October.
On his third day in the witness box at Newcastle Crown Court, he was cross-examined by prosecutor Richard Wright QC.
Mr Wright said: “I suggest you were utterly and thoroughly obsessed with Alice. Do you accept that?’ Dhillon replied: “No I don’t.” Mr Wright said: “I suggest you had the knife and killed her in a jealous temper. Do you accept that?” Dhillon replied: “No I don’t.”
Mr Wright went on: “I suggest your version of events is a constructed, lying account because you are trying to get away with the fact you murdered her. Do you accept that?” Dhillon said: “No.” Dhillon agreed he loved Alice, thought she was ‘the one,’ cared about her deeply and had happy memories of their time together.
Asked why he loved Alice, he said: “There was a certain connection we had. From the beginning both of us used to joke about things only we would find funny.
“She used to make me feel good about myself, made me feel special. Alice was my best friend, my girlfriend and a lot more.
“We used to have the craziest sense of humour together.
“I knew everything about her, all her friends, what she liked to eat, what she liked to drink, what make-up brand she loved.
“That’s not because I was a stalker, it’s because I used to care and listen every time and hear what she said.”
Dhillon admitted some of his behaviour could be viewed as obsessive. But he added: “I never at any point considered myself to be stalking her.”
Mr Wright asked: “Do you not accept you plagued the last few weeks of this poor girl’s life and made it miserable?”
Dhillon replied: “I’m not going to say what I did was right. The intention was not there but if that’s what happened it was wrong.” He added: “I was not stalking her.” Mr Wright asked: “That girl was scared of you, wasn’t she?” Dhillon responded: “If she was scared when she was asked by the police if she wanted something done about it, why did she seem not distressed?”
In another exchange, Mr Wright said: “By the time you split up in October, do you agree she was miserable, she had lost weight, she was nervous, had fallen out with her housemates and had to move?
“I suggest to this jury that is because of you, because you were controlling her, weren’t you? “Is that right?” Dhillon said: “No.” Dhillon admitted contacting Alice’s potential new boyfriend, Mike Thaibsyah, on Facebook, after tracking him down on her list of friends.
He said he just wanted to know what was happening.
He also admitted hacking into Mr Thaibsyah’s Facebook account to see if he was in a relationship with Alice.
Dhillon, of Glencorse Barracks, in Penicuik, Midlothian, Scotland, will be cross-examined further on Monday.
He denies murder and the trial continues.