Man‘heard voices in his head’

A MAN accused of rape, attempted murder and robbery told police officers he heard voices in his head telling him to harm people.

The High Court in Perth was told that Alan Ludlow had made the admission as he was detained at the scene of an attempted robbery.

The 37-year-old is accused of forcing his way into Janine Muldoon’s flat in Aberdour, and assaulting her with the intention of robbing her on November 4 last year.

When police constables attended the scene, they detained Ludlow, with PC Colin Reddy telling jurors that he had been open about his actions that day.

The officer said the accused had told him of an incident earlier in the day in which he had threatened a woman with a knife.

“He said he had a knife and had showed her how easily he could have killed her,” he said.

“He told me that the voices in his head were telling him to do that, to ‘harm, harm, harm’but that he didn’t want to do that.

“He told me that he had then gotten on a bus to Aberdour where he had a few drinks in a pub before picking a house at random to rob.”

The officer added that Ludlow had told him that he was on bail in connection with a charge of attempted murder.

In earlier evidence, Mrs Muldoon (37), who was the owner of that house chosen at random, told the court Ludlow had forced her to lie down before taking a pair of scissors from his pocket and holding them near her face, cutting her hands in several places as she grabbed them.

She told the court Ludlow said he wanted cash.

In what the witness described as “a fit of conscience”, Ludlow then made a panicked 999 call to ask for medical assistance for Mrs Muldoon, who was bleeding from a hand wound.

In a tape of the 999 call made, a man who identifies himself as Alan Ludlow is heard to say that he has broken into someone’s house and that she now needed medical attention.

The man was also heard to say he “wanted to hurt everyone” and was “going to harm people”.

A distressed Mrs Muldoon could also be heard on the tape, telling Fife police priority call handler Lauren Smith that she had been assaulted with scissors and had been held against her will.

Ludlow denies forcing his way into the flat, punching Mrs Muldoon to the floor, compressing her neck, pinning her to the ground, holding scissors near her face and demanding money, abducting her and detaining her against her will, all to her injury, with intent to rob her.

He further denies repeatedly raping and attempting to rape and murder another woman in Glenrothes on September 17 last year.

He also pleads not guilty to assaulting the woman in Glenrothes on November 4 and breaching bail.

The trial will continue on Monday.

Jim Glendinning pours a pint of Roods Royal Ale.