Court hears details of 999 phone call

Charles Gordon had been allocated a flat in Abbey Court, St Andrews, but had been staying at his sister’s upstairs flat in Bobby Jones Place for a couple of weeks when the murder took place.

Gordon, who was born in Dunfermline but brought up in Rosyth, was one of 10 siblings and was a ceramic tiler by trade.

However, he had not worked since being attacked around six years ago, was on benefits and was living on his sister’s couch.

Evidence heard during the trial revealed how Gordon had phoned 999 after assaulting his sister and told the call handler: “I think I’ve killed my sister.

“She’s dead, I’m alive and I’m no happy, but I thought I better report it.”

Asked by the operator why he had killed her, he replied: “Because she was a cheeky b ****** .”

Gordon claimed Ms Bowe had grown angry because he refused to go out to buy cannabis for her, and said the pair were arguing until Ms Bowe removed the lower half of her clothes and threatened to cry rape.

Gordon told the court he laughed it off and called her a “retard”, which he said prompted Ms Bowe to threaten to “cut his face off” and move to fetch a knife.

The accused said it was then he took hold of his sister by the neck to restrain her for “a minute-ish” before she fell to the ground.

Gordon claimed he checked she was not “kidding on”, phoned police at 9.24pm after briefly charging his phone, and used a piece of carrier bag to wipe blood away from his sister’s mouth.

However, prosecutors branded his story “preposterous” and described Gordon’s version of events as a “vile and disgusting lie”.

Police at Bobby Jones Place after the incident.