A psychiatrist has told a court of how he examined a woman who is standing trial for murder and concluded she wasn’t suffering from psychiatric illness.
Dr Alasdair Forrest, 30, told the High Court in Edinburgh that Sharyn Stewart, 53, doesn’t have a mental health condition.
The Dundee University graduate told a jury how he examined Ms Stewart in the months following her arrest for allegedly murdering Alan Cowie, 65, at his Aberdeen home in January 2018.
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Dr Forrest, who works at the Royal Cornhill Hospital in Aberdeen, was speaking on the fifth day of proceedings against Ms Stewart.
He was answering questions from defence advocate Stephen O’Rourke QC.
Mr O’Rourke asked: “Did you conclude that she had a psychiatric illness?”
Dr Forrest, who works as a registrar, replied: “I concluded that she did not have a psychiatric illness.”
Ms Stewart denies charges of attempting to murder Mr Cowie in April 2017 and murdering him last year.
Jurors at the start of proceedings heard an agreed statement of evidence which states that Ms Stewart killed Mr Cowie.
However, her lawyers have entered a special defence which states that at the time of the January 2 incident, she wasn’t responsible for murdering Mr Cowie because her “ability to determine or control her conduct was substantially impaired by reason of abnormality of mind”.
On Tuesday, Dr Forrest was being asked questions about an April 2018 report which he wrote following a meeting he had with Ms Stewart.
The court heard how the report detailed that Ms Stewart said she had been adopted at the age of three and that she did not know her birth parents.
The court heard that Ms Stewart also had a “disruptive” childhood. Her father would drink to “excess” whilst her mother “held things together”.
Jurors also heard that she was also diagnosed with Tuberculosis as a youngster and received treatment for the condition.
Prosecutors claim that on April 18, 2017, Ms Stewart attempted to murder Mr Cowie at his home by pushing him and repeatedly kicking him on his head and body.
She also allegedly placed a plastic bag over his head and allegedly restricted his breathing.
The Crown also claim that on January 2 2018, Ms Stewart murdered Mr Cowie by striking him on the head and body with a bottle before knocking him to the ground.
It is also claimed that during this assault, Ms Stewart also stood on Mr Cowie’s neck and also restricted his breathing.
She has pleaded not guilty to both charges.
The trial, before judge Lord Pentland, continues.
