Glasgow and West Feed

Teenager 'has no memory of attacking classmate'

Craig Roy said that he remembers being 'extremely angry' at the time he is accused of murdering Jack Frew.

27 January 2012 12:15 GMT

295289

Video will appear here shortly.

A teenager accused of murdering a classmate told a trial he had no memory of carrying out the attack.

Craig Roy said he was "terrified" when he realised 16-year-old Jack Frew was lying on the ground with his throat cut because he thought he could have been the one who killed him.

Roy, 19, was giving evidence for the second day in the trial at the High Court in Glasgow.

Teenager 'has no memory of attacking classmate'

He is accused of murdering Mr Frew in East Kilbride by stabbing him 20 times on May 6 2010. He denies the offence.

The jury was told on Friday that at an earlier hearing Roy had entered a guilty plea to culpable homicide, but it was rejected by the Crown.

Roy said he had taken a knife out after Mr Frew had exposed himself in a wooded area as the pair were out for a walk.

He told the court: "I remember being angry. Extremely angry. Jack was lying on the ground. I was trying to help him. He was bleeding from the neck.

"I was still holding the knife. It was covered in blood. I was terrified that it was me that had caused this to Jack. I was crying quite a lot."

His lawyer, David Burns QC, asked him: "Do you accept that it was you who delivered these many blows?"

He replied: "I came to that conclusion. Even now, logically, I accept it, but part of me just won't accept it."

Mr Burns asked him: "Do you take responsibility for the killing of Jack Frew?" The teenager replied: "I don't want to believe it, but, logically, yes."

Roy also spoke of the impact his fellow Ducanrig High School pupil’s death had on his family: "Obviously I can't imagine what they think. They lost a son. He wasn't just a son - he was a friend, a best friend, a nephew, a cousin. He was a lot of things to a lot of people.

"If I could make things right again, I would. But I can't."

Roy previously told the trial he thought the younger man had wanted to perform sexual acts with him.

The trial has previously heard that Mr Frew was "blackmailing" Roy by threatening to tell his boyfriend Christopher Hannah about an earlier sexual encounter.

Members of Mr Frew’s family wept during Roy's evidence.

'Bad light'

Roy broke down in the witness box and the trial was adjourned. He cried during cross-examination from advocate depute Jennifer Bain.

Ms Bain previously accused Roy of trying to paint Mr Frew "in a bad light" by claiming he was blackmailing him.

She said: "There wasn't blackmail, was there? You just felt guilty about what you had done with Jack Frew. It was your guilt that caused you to take the knife on May 6."

He replied: "I didn't want him blackmailing me. I was quite impulsive, otherwise I wouldn't have taken the knife. It goes against my morals and my beliefs."

She also asked him: "Are trying to say negative things about Jack Frew to try to justify what you have done?"

He said: "No, not at all. You can't justify killing someone."

Ms Bain put it to Roy that he could actually remember attacking Jack with the knife.She said: "Is it not the case that you remember stabbing Jack Frew that night? Is it not the case that you remember Jack Frew fighting back? Is the reason you won't tell anyone because Jack was screaming in pain and fighting for his life?"

He replied: "No. I wouldn't know." The advocate depute said: "Did you even care about what you had done?" Roy answered: "When I came to the conclusion that it must have been me, yes, I did care. I was trying to help Jack Frew."

Ms Bain retorted: "Trying to help him by stabbing him 20 times and slitting his throat?" Roy said: "I don't recall stabbing him 20 times and slitting his throat. I did try to help."

'Lack of memory'

Ms Bain asked why Roy had told his boyfriend Mr Hannah he had stabbed the teenager, revealed to his sister that he had slashed his throat and admitted to a policeman that he had stabbed him in the back. She said: "Is this lack of memory just a convenience?"

Roy became emotional as he answered, saying: "If I could know I would want to know. I want to know what happened that night. I don't like putting people through so much. I don't want to put anyone through this. If I knew the truth I would say. I don't recall doing anything and that's what makes this hard for me."

The trial was briefly adjourned after Roy broke down again in the witness box. Once it resumed, Roy insisted: "I did not murder Jack Frew."

Under examination from his lawyer, he said: "I would not go out of my way to harm someone. I would not go out of my way. I would not go out of my way to kill someone."

The trial, before Lord Doherty, continues.