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Trial hears of Aberdeen 'sex act' robbery plan |
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Crimewatch
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Published by The BBC
3rd March 2010
A man accused of a murder in Aberdeen planned to rob a client of his prostitute girlfriend while the man had his trousers down, a trial has heard. Paul Balgowan and Julie Carroll, both 24, are accused of planning to steal 56-year-old Alan Bennett's wallet after she agreed to carry out a sex act.
Witness Raymond Scougall told the High Court in Aberdeen Mr Balgowan had later said he thought he had killed a man. Mr Scougall said he believed the victim had fought back and was stabbed. Mr Balgowan and Ms Carroll deny murdering the insurance broker in Oldmill Road in May 2009.
Mr Scougall told the court the couple hatched a robbery plan when he met them at their accommodation in a homeless unit. He told the third day of the trial: "We went down to the harbour. Julie was going to meet a client. Paul was going to interrupt them and just take the guy's wallet. The guy was going to be caught with his trousers down."
Advocate depute Iain McSporran asked: "Why did you stay with them?"
He replied: "I don't know, I just went along with them. When we got to the bottom of the road, we bumped into Mr Bennett. Julie went with him. We turned around a corner and Julie was ahead of me and Paul. She spoke with Mr Bennett and walked with him. They went down a dark alleyway."
Mr Scougall told the court that he lost Ms Carroll, Mr Balgowan and Mr Bennett after following them down Aberdeen's Union Street to Crown Street. He said he saw Mr Balgowan on his phone and assumed he was keeping in touch with his girlfriend to find out where she would be with her client. Ten minutes later, he claimed his friend Mr Balgowan called him to say he thought he had killed the man.
The prosecutor asked: "What did he say?"
Mr Scougall replied: "That he had stabbed the guy. He sounded out of breath. Really shaken up, panicking. I asked him what had happened. "He said 'I think I killed the guy and I don't know what to do'."
Asked if he knew what happened, Mr Scougall said: "There was a bit of a struggle apparently. The guy didn't want to hand over his wallet and he fought back."
Mr Balgowan was later taken to Craiginches Prison to be held on remand.
Reliance prison custody officer Andrea Hall, 23, said she heard Mr Balgowan talking about the incident when she was sitting in the back of the van on the way to the prison.
She later told police: "One of the custodies asked Paul Balgowan what he was in for. Paul replied by saying 'murder'. I immediately asked Paul if he had meant to murder the man and he said something similar to 'no, I meant to rob him', or 'robbery went wrong'. But he said the guy fought back and he had stabbed him whilst in a struggle. He said the man got stabbed in the leg, the chest and somewhere else."
The trial continues.
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