AN ALLEGED assault victim has told a trial that she had no memory of being attacked by a man accused of murder following a reported incident on the same day.
Sean McKie allegedly killed Malcolm McCandlish, whilst acting together with co-accused Simon Roberts, in Irvine almost two years ago after a violent altercation in the town centre.
McKie, 37, was also charged with repeatedly slapping a woman on the face and repeatedly striking her head against a wall - before prosecutors dropped the allegation.
The High Court in Glasgow heard that the woman, in her 30s, had no recollection of the incident due to drink and drugs.
Prosecutors had previously claimed that her dog was also attacked by McKie, who had been accused of repeatedly hitting the animal on the head with a guitar.
McKie and 38-year-old Roberts both face a charge of murdering Mr McCandlish, who died in hospital more than two weeks after the alleged fatal assault on his birthday in September 2024.
The High Court in Glasgow (Image: Staff)
Roberts and McKie were said to have shouted, swore and uttered offensive remarks towards a woman earlier on the same day at Kirk Vennel in the town, threatening to harm her dog and attempting to get the pet to follow them.
The Crown claimed that McKie then assaulted the woman and the dog.
However, the woman told the court last week that she had no memory of anything that happened that day due to addiction and "street Valium".
She said: “I was dependent on drugs and alcohol, I don’t remember, I honestly do not remember."
When questioned, she said she was “probably not” lying, but added, “I was a loose cannon and steaming".
Asked "Would you call 999 for no reason?", she said "No".
She told the advocate depute, “I feel like a f*****g criminal here”.
In her previous statement, she said both accused were "calling me a smackhead".
She later appeared facing a separate contempt of court charge after the witness failed to appear in court to give evidence in the trial and a warrant was issued.
Earlier in the trial, it was heard that Roberts was seen "laughing" while the woman was allegedly being assaulted by McKie.
Giving evidence in his defence on Friday, April 10, Roberts told the court: "We went round and she was arguing with her boyfriend and we kind of left. We were only there a couple of minutes and she was acting erratic.
“I walked over to the graveyard as she was shouting in the street."
When it was put to him that “You had gone out looking for trouble” and “we have heard evidence you did cause trouble earlier”, he said: “I think she just made things up – she showed that yesterday she was not fit from drink and drugs".
When told “You were laughing along”, he replied, "I was probably laughing while wanting to get away".
Responding to claims of threats to kill a dog, he said “no, not at all”, and “I was probably just trying to clap the dog".
After the closing of the Crown's case, the advocate depute told the court that prosecutors were no longer proceeding with four of the charges against the pair - with jurors to focus on the murder charge and a serious assault allegation.
Judge Lady Drummond gave instructions to the jury on Monday, April 13, following closing speeches from the advocate depute and the defence.
Jurors were dismissed for the day and will continue with their deliberations on Tuesday.
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