An oil worker broke down in tears in court yesterday as he witnessed for the first time the moment one of his closest friends died outside an Aberdeen city centre bar.
CCTV footage showing the run up to and the moments following the death of young dad Craig Grant was played to the High Court in the city yesterday.
The 26-year-old died outside Tonik bar in the city’s Bon Accord Street between August 8 and 9 last year.
This week three bouncers, Kiel Hauley, 33, Jonas Marcius, 23 and Adrian Morley, 33, went on trial accused of his murder.
All three deny the charge against them and counsel for Hauley and Marcius have lodged a special defence of self-defence.
Yesterday Philip Mitchell, 27, who had been out drinking with Mr Grant on the Thursday evening, took to the witness stand to give evidence for the Crown.
He told the court how he had left his friend of 17 years outside Paramount with the intention of meeting him in Tonik.
However, he said the next time he saw Mr Grant was when he discovered him lying face down on the ground being restrained by two bouncers.
Mr Mitchell had not witnessed the incident which allegedly led to Mr Grant’s death, however he said he pleaded with security staff to let his friend go when he noticed he was bleeding from his mouth.
The witness claimed that the bouncers refused to listen to him and swore at him before telling him a taxi was coming for Mr Grant.
He said he interpreted this to mean the police were coming for him.
Mr Mitchell said: “I went round to the front of Craig and noticed something wasn’t right. I could see there was no movement. I saw there was blood coming out of his mouth.
“I remember his ear was blue.”
Advocate Depute James Keegan QC asked Mr Mitchell if there was anything else he noticed about his face.
He replied: “No. After that I knew something was wrong. I just tried to get hold of him and they would not let me get to him. “By the time I knew something was wrong he was still in the same position.
“They would not move. I tried to tell them something was wrong. Craig would not just lie there like that. No one would lie there like that and not say anything or try to get them off. That’s when I knew something was really wrong and his eyes were closed.”
Mr Keegan asked Mr Mitchell if he knew what had happened to his friend.
He said: “What did you realise about your friend? By the time the police came what did you realise about your friend?”
Breaking down in tears as he replied, Mr Mitchell said: “You could just tell that he wasn’t there.”
The trial, before Lady Wolfe, continues.
