Man 'attacked by lover during argument', court told

A MAN was attacked after he and his on-off lover argued about people they had slept with, a court heard.

Laura King and Alexander "Blue" Thomson traded insults after he turned up at her Edinburgh flat in the early hours of January 13 this year.

This sparked fighting between Mr Thomson and King's friend Peter "PJ" Tarwinski before the woman allegedly struck the 20 year-old over the head with a wine bottle.

King, 24, and Tarwinski, 25, are charged with killing Mr Thomson at the flat in Newbattle Terrace, Morningside.

Beauty salon owner Eve McBride gave evidence for the second day at the trial at the High Court in Glasgow today.

The 28 year-old earlier told the jury how she had witnessed an assault on Mr Thomson by the two accused.

The three of them had been in the flat when Mr Thomson arrived around 4am.

King and Mr Thomson had earlier spoke to each other a number of times on the phone.

It was claimed that King told the man she did not want him to come to her home.

When Mr Thomson appeared, the group sat drinking wine and snorting cocaine before he and King began "bickering".

King's QC Edgar Prais today asked Miss McBride: "What was it that turned an unpleasant episode into a violent event?"

She told him: "Laura and Blue were arguing. This was about people that they had slept with in the past.

"I went to comfort Laura and, when I came round, Blue and PJ had been talking.

She said Blue told Tarwinski he thought he was sleeping with King too.
Mr Prais went on: "So, that horrible remark was made and PJ lashed out?"
Miss McBride: "Yes."

PC David McCurdy later told the trial he was one of the first officers to attend at the flat after the alleged killing.

PC McCurdy said when he saw Tarwinski he look like "Casper" - the cartoon ghost.

He went on: "He had a skin tight white T-shirt on that was covered in blood apart from one patch.

"He was like something from a Halloween party."

Paramedic Amanda Davidson told the court that when she attended, she could not find a pulse on Mr Thomson.

She said: "My view was that he was in cardiac arrest."

King also faces a charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice by asking Eve McBride not to tell police about the alleged incident.

King and Tarwinski are both charged with possessing cocaine at Newbattle Terrace.

King is also alleged to have had ecstasy at a flat in the city's Granton Medway, on January 12 this year.

They deny all charges.

The trial, before Judge Mark Stewart QC, continues.