A murder accused yesterday fought back tears as he told a jury that he killed a man.
John Henderson, 47, described “striking out” twice with a knife at Mr Clampett during an incident at Fernie Place in Fraserburgh on June 18.
He is on trial along with Gary Martin, 37; Joseph Martin, 40; Thomas Martin, 45; David Graham, 46; James Connor, 52; and 25-year-old Dean Leech who deny murdering the dad by hitting him with knives, a machete, a sword and other weapons.
Jurors at the High Court in Glasgow heard Henderson went with Thomas Martin, Connor and Leech to collect Gary Martin from a nearby street in the early hours of the morning, after hearing about an alleged incident.
Defence counsel Keith Stewart QC asked Henderson why he took knife with him. He said he was “scared”.
The court heard he was chased by a woman who saw he had a knife, and while running away lashed out at Mr Clampett.
Mr Stewart asked how close he got and he replied: “I couldn’t get past him without touching him.”
Asked what he did, he replied: “Struck out with the knife.”
Henderson said he heard later that morning that Mr Clampett was dead.
He admitted being responsible for the father’s death and said he felt “worse than I have ever felt in my life”.
Mr Stewart asked: “Can you describe your attitude, learning of Mr Clampett’s death?”
Henderson fought back tears as he replied: “There’s a lot of things going through your mind.
“You’ve taken somebody’s life.”
The court heard the cause of Mr Clampett’s death was loss of blood caused by a stab wound to the side.
The seven men deny the charges and the trial continues.
