A murder accused sobbed in court as he described the moment he stabbed a former friend to death.
Arran Fender, 31, is accused of murdering 44-year-old Gary McMillan in the early hours of May 16 last year, at the junction of Lawton Road and Lawton Terrace.
He denies the charges, and has lodged a special defence of self-defence.
The two had at one point been close friends, but had a fallen out a number of months before Mr McMillan’s death.
The “bad blood” had centred around Fender having a relationship with Jessica Holt, 22, while also still seeing the mother of his child, Jill Halliday, 31.
Mr McMillan and Ms Holt had been drinking at the deceased’s flat on the day of his death when Fender arrived in a taxi and began shouting up at the flat window.
Fender admitted taking a dagger-style, double-edged knife from his mother’s house to Mr McMillan’s home when questioned by defence agent Donald Findlay QC.
When asked why, the accused told the High Court in Edinburgh: “I’ve been thinking about this for nine months. I don’t know why I had that on me.”
He said he had no idea why he showed the knife to the taxi driver, having handed it to him and joked about the driver’s finger prints being on it.
Both Ms Holt and Mr McMillan came to the main close door to speak to Fender.
Discussing the confrontation, Fender said: “He [Mr McMillan] had asked me to go for a square go in the backs but I just left. I told him to **** off back up the stairs.”
Fender said he left by foot towards Lawton Road. He added: “I turned around and Gary was right there.
“He was moving towards me. A knife came flying towards my face. I jumped back and the knife missed me. When I jumped back he tried to strike me again and I pulled my knife out.”
Fender told the court he moved the knife from right to left in front of his body “to defend himself” and wasn’t aiming for a particular part of Mr McMillan’s body.
He claims he struck Mr McMillan with his dagger knife; contradicting evidence from a pathologist who said the deceased’s wounds were probably inflicted by a blade with only one sharp edge.
He said Mr McMillan lay on the pavement and asked Fender “to stop”.
Fender added: “I said to him, ‘what are you ******* doing running at me with a knife?’ and he said he was sorry.”
Fender said at that point he had no idea Mr McMillan was fatally wounded and left the scene.
Fender denies murder by inflicting blunt force trauma and repeatedly striking Mr McMillan with a knife or similar instrument, claiming self-defence.
The trial continues.
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