A man accused of raping and attempting to murder a woman at a north-east flat wept in court yesterday as he described the moment he tightened a scarf around her neck.
Mark Fraser was giving evidence during the third day of his trial at the High Court in Aberdeen.
The jury of seven men and eight women had already heard that Fraser attacked the woman from behind – throttling her until she believed she was only seconds from death.
The 43-year-old is also accused of raping her twice after assaulting her with the ligature.
Fraser admits attacking the woman with the scarf to the danger of her life – but denies attempting to murder her.
He also denies all sexual elements of the charge he faces.
Yesterday, Fraser wiped away tears as he explained he “snapped” after an argument between himself and the woman escalated.
He said he went to her home in Peterhead on November 28 last year to confront her about a number of matters.
He told the court that an argument began and the woman told him to mind his own business.
He said as she started to walk away from him he lost his temper and “snapped”.
Fraser said initially he intended to use the scarf to loop it around her neck and pull her back towards him so she could not leave the room.
However, he said she then threw herself to the floor and as she hit the ground he started to pull tighter.
He said: “The argument started to get more intense and I just snapped. I had just had enough. She turned round, called me names.
“When I went to put it (the scarf) round her neck she threw herself forward and I went with her and that’s when I tightened it up. I was saying something to her like ‘will you grow up’.”
The woman previously gave evidence that as she was lying on the floor he asked her “are you dead yet?”.
When asked by Fraser’s counsel, advocate Shelagh McCall, if he had said that, he replied: “I never said that at all. I realised straight away that I had done wrong.
“She started to shout to start with at the very start. After doing that I helped her up on to the two-piece settee and started apologising.”
When asked about the alleged rapes, Fraser said the accusations were completely made up. He said that there was absolutely no sexual contact between the pair.
However, the court heard evidence this week from forensic scientist Linda Muckersie, who said that DNA matching the woman’s was found on Fraser.
She told the court that no DNA belonging to Fraser was found on the woman, however.
Mrs Muckersie told the court that the DNA found on Fraser may have ended up there through secondary transfer.
She said if Fraser had touched the woman with his hands and then touched himself, the DNA may have been transferred that way.
The jury is expected to return its verdict today.
