A man who was acquitted of murder earlier this week said he felt “numb” and “shocked” when he discovered a man he had helped to restrain had died.
Adrian Morley was one of three bouncers who had been on trial at the High Court in Aberdeen accused of killing north-east dad Craig Grant outside the city’s Tonik bar in the city centre.
However, after more than a week of evidence the Crown dropped the charges against him.
Yesterday, the 33-year-old said that he had no idea, throughout the time he was holding him down on the ground by his legs, that Mr Grant had died.
And he said he had been unaware of what his colleagues Jonas Marcius and Kiel Hauley were doing as they held him down further up his body.
Mr Morley said that it was only when police arrived and tried to sit Mr Grant up that he thought something may be wrong.
And he said that if he thought his colleagues were doing “anything dangerous” he would have intervened.
The former bouncer, who has not worked since the incident, was speaking as he gave evidence during the trial of the last remaining accused after the Crown also accepted Hauley was not guilty of murder.
Marcuis, 23, remains on trial and pleads not guilty to the charge against him.
It is alleged Marcius, of 16A Merkland Road, Aberdeen, seized Mr Grant by the neck and forced him to the ground before placing him in a choke hold and compressing his neck on August 8.
His defence counsel Mark Stewart QC has lodged a special defence of self defence.
Mr Morely told a jury of 10 women and five men yesterday that he was only made aware Mr Grant had died after police officers took him to the police station and charged him with murder.
He said: “I remember a detective coming into the room. I can’t remember the words he used but I remember him telling me that he had died as a result of the incident and I was being arrested or detained at the time.”
Advocate Depute James Keegan asked Mr Morley how this had made him feel.
He replied: “Numb, shocked. I was not really able to process it. I was very taken aback.”
The court heard that during the incident Mr Morely had made contact with the police CCTV room on three occasions to ask officers to attend.
It took eight minutes for the police to arrive at the scene after the incident started and a further eight minutes after that for the ambulance to arrive.
The court heard that during that time no CPR was carried out on Mr Grant.
The trial, before Lady Wolfe, continues.
