A businessman who died after being hit with a dog lead described his alleged killer as “the neighbour from hell” in the minutes before he collapsed, a court has been told.
Retired surgeon Hamish Towler told a jury John Birrell called him that during an angry confrontation on the road outside their Inverness homes.
Towler is on trial at the High Court in Inverness accused of the culpable homicide of the garage boss. He has lodged a special defence of self-defence and claims his alleged victim was the aggressor.
The jury has previously heard how Mr Birrell, 55, collapsed and died of cardiac arrest moments after the clash with 66-year-old Towler on August 17 2020.
Towler, who is represented by Shelagh McCall KC, took to the witness stand to give his version of events.
He told Ms McCall he had been walking his two Hungarian Vizsla dogs when he heard a van, driven by Mr Birrell’s son Jake, approaching on the road that leads to their homes in the Blackpark area of Inverness.
He explained that he feared for his safety following a previous incident where he believed the van had driven too close to him.
Towler said he moved into the middle of the road rather than retreating to a verge as he had done when another neighbour passed in the minutes before.
When the Birrells’ van came up behind him Towler began to “windmill” a dog lead that he was holding in its direction to keep the van from coming too close. He said the lead did not hit the van.
“I started swinging the dog lead, the horn sounded after that,” Towler said.
After that he said John Birrell got out of the vehicle and came at him with “his fists raised” landing “several blows”.
‘I hit him with the dog lead’
He said it was then he turned and swung the dog lead at Mr Birrell, hitting him on his shoulder.
Asked how much force he had used, he said: “Just enough for him to feel it.”
Under cross-examination from advocate depute Bill McVicar, Towler said could not be certain whether the contact he felt while his back was turned to Birrell was pushing or punching.
He denied hitting Mr Birrell in the face with the lead, saying he was “calm and careful”.
He said during a verbal exchange Mr Birrell said to him: “Why did I have the f***ing neighbour from hell?”
To which Towler said he replied: “Touche, John.”
Towler explained that he did not contact police following the confrontation because his experience with calling 101 to report a previous incident involving Mr Birrell’s son’s vehicle had “left him in doubt” as to “whether it would make a difference”.
When arrested he told officers that he had acted in self-defence.
The trial previously heard how a postmortem examination had shown Birrell was suffering from heart disease, with a forensic pathologist saying there could be a link between the altercation and the subsequent cardiac arrest.
The jury has also been played a tape of Towler’s police interview.
In it, the former opthalmologist told officers he thought Mr Birrell, with whom he had previous disagreements over issues, including planning and access, “looked an unfit man” who would become “enraged and purple” when angry.
The trial, before Lord Fairley, continues.
