THE defence team for murder accused Paul Blower said there is no evidence to prove he either threatened or attacked Jock Straiton.

Barrister Alan Hedworth reminded jurors of the evidence given by Barnton man Philip Howarth, who saw a light-haired man move out of the shadows and jump on Mr Straiton’s head as he drove through Winnington shortly before 1.30am with his partner Stella Tait and their newborn son.

He then described seeing another man talking on his mobile phone in the mouth of Park Road at the same time, and described him as being over 5ft 9, with dark brown hair gelled forward and wearing a dark shirt.

Summing up the case against Blower, Mr Hedworth said: “Who was that? Who, ladies and gentlemen could it have been, who was the only person of that description who was on his mobile at that time?

“That, ladies and gentlemen, was one person and one person only – Paul Blower.”

Phone records have revealed Blower was on his mobile phone around the time of the attack and photographs from the party at Winnington Rec he earlier attended with co-accused Nigel Goolding and Joshua Spruce, showed him wearing a black t-shirt.

The attack on Mr Straiton, 59, followed a previous argument in the garden of his flats at Sandybank.

It is accepted that Blower engaged in an argument with Stephen Moores, who lived above the victim, but Mr Hedworth said there was no evidence that he had ever threatened Jock himself.

Referring to 999 calls previously played out to the court, in which a man could be heard saying, ‘don’t cry’ and ‘he’s been threatened before’, he said: “Someone was trying to reason with Mr Straiton.

“He (Jock) was fully entitled to feel threatened by I’ve got to say that if he was feeling so threatened, you might think it strange to pick up a hammer and go out and engage with them.”

Several witnesses from the flats said they heard shouts of, ‘come on down’, which Mr Hedworth said clearly referred to Mr Moores, and was not an invitation to fight aimed at the victim.

The defence team for Goolding argued he only hit out at Mr Straiton in self-defence and questioned the reliability of several prosecution witnesses who were drunk on the night.

The trial continues.