A key witness in the trial against a man who is alleged to have threatened to shoot a sheriff told officers that at no point did he hear the accused make the threats, a court has heard.
Alexander Birse gave evidence at Aberdeen Sheriff Court on Thursday and claimed that he heard Aleksandrs Kolosovs claim that he would shoot the judge if he sent him to jail.
Mr Birse said that the remarks were made in the city’s East Neuk Bar on July 11 – two days before Kolosovs was due to attend at court on an undertaking.
However, police constable Emma Wright told the court yesterday that she had taken a statement from Mr Birse hours after he claimed to have seen the accused in the pub.
She said that Mr Birse told her that he had seen Kolosovs with a gun while he was in the bar however denied ever having heard him making any threatening remarks.
Reading from Mr Birse’s statement she said: “At no point did he make reference to using the gun. Particularly not at court on Friday June 13 when he attends.”
Representing Kolosovs, solicitor John McLeod asked the constable: “At any point did Mr Birse say to you that he had heard Aleks saying that he was going to shoot the judge?”
She replied: “No.”
The 37-year-old is currently on trial accused of having a BB gun in the East Neuk bar on June 11 this year while making threatening remarks about shooting a sheriff.
He is also alleged to have shot John Cooper twice to the face on January 26 leaving pellets lodged underneath his skin.
Kolosovs denies all the allegations and claims the witnesses throughout his trial have been lying because they are jealous of him.
Giving evidence himself yesterday Kolosovs cooly displayed to the jurors how two replica guns worked and how they would fire pellets.
At one stage he pointed one of the guns out of the witness box and pulled the trigger, causing those around him in the court room to jump nervously.
Giving evidence he claimed he had never spoken to the men who had been called as prosecution witnesses after they said they had spotted him in the bar with the gun.
He told jurors that they were “low lifes” and said he would never be seen to associate with them because they do not work and claim benefits.
The jury is expected to reach its verdict on Monday.