A man was today cleared of the murder of a grandad in Oldmeldrum almost a decade ago.
Tristan Simpson has been on trial at the High Court in Aberdeen accused of killing Bob Parks on May 3 2014 by throwing him down stairs at a property on Coutens Place in the village.
The 46-year-old had denied murder and has now had his name cleared as a jury took just 70 minutes to reach a majority not guilty verdict.
After the verdict was announced, a tearful Mr Simpson turned to the jury of eight men and seven women and said: “Thank you”.
Speaking outside court, Mr Simpson told of his relief.
He said: “This has been the most traumatic experience I’ve ever had.
“There was nothing in it at all – a tragic accident that happened in front of my eyes.
“Somebody tried to destroy my life.”
The Crown’s case hung on the evidence of a former colleague of Mr Simpson, who waited five years to tell the police about a supposed confession he’d made during a smoke break.
Ex-colleague’s evidence
Simon Atkin took to the witness stand on day one of the trial and told the jury that Simpson told him he shoved the 59-year-old down stairs.
Mr Atkin, 53, said: “He looked quite distressed and said ‘Simon, I’ve got something to tell you. Bob didn’t fall, I pushed him’.
“He said he flew off the top and never touched a step on the way down.”
Mr Simpson’s defence counsel Iain Paterson, cross-examining the witness, put it to him that he “did nothing” for five years after the claimed confession.
Mr Atkin said: “No. I processed it within myself.”
Stepdaughter of accused says she heard ‘kerfuffle’
Yesterday, Mr Simpson’s stepdaughter Charlie Simpson gave evidence about the incident.
She spoke of hearing Mr Parks say “get your hands off me” seconds before the incident, and that her stepfather had asked her not to tell anyone about the “kerfuffle” between the men.
Mr Simpson, of Victoria Street, Dyce, had also faced six other charges of assault, but those were all dropped yesterday and he was formally acquitted.
Asked how he felt to have been cleared of the murder charge, Mr Simpson said: “It was amazing, it really was.
“I knew I wasn’t guilty. I was just relieved to know other people saw that I was not guilty.”
