Son tells pensioner murder trial how he found his 80-year-old mother's body

The son of an 80-year-old woman who was allegedly murdered told a jury how he found her dead.

David Methven was giving evidence at the trial of his former friend William Kean who denies killing Jenny Methven.

Mr Methven, a contractor, told prosecutor Alex Prentice QC that he returned to the home he shared with his mother in Perthshire and was surprised to find no lights on in the house.

He said he called out twice to his mother and got no reply at their cottage in village of Forteviot.

Mr Methven said: "She was lying half on and half off a kitchen chair with a towel over her head. She was slumped down. There was a great deal of blood on her, on the carpet and on the walls. It was pretty much a mess."

He said that at first he thought she had had an accident. Mr Prentice then said: "Did she appear to be alive?" He replied: "No." The court was told that the last time Mr Methven saw his mother was at breakfast that morning and he thought it was just "a normal Monday".

The 58-year-old said that he was due to go out for a curry with his mother that evening in a nearby village and added: "We reminded each other that we wouldn't need an evening meal because it was curry night. That was the last words I exchanged with my mother."

On Wednesday, the High Court in Glasgow heard Mr Methven came home to find his mother's body at around 5.10pm on February 20 this year.

Earlier Mr Prentice had asked Mr Methven, who is being blamed by Kean for his the death in the special defence of incrimination, if he had ever wanted to harm her and replied: " No sir."

He was then asked if he had ever been part of a plan to harm her and said: "No sir." Mr Methven said that despite his mother's age she was very fit and walked her dog Kyle morning and afternoon. He added: "Her life revolved round walking her dog to be honest."

Mr Methven told the jury of nine women and six men that the day before she died he and his mother had gone for lunch to the House of Bruar in Dunkeld after she had been to church. He said: "It was a regular occurrence."

Cash

The jury heard there was more than £150,000 in the cottage when Mrs Methven died and her son said that it was a combination of her money, his money and cash that had been left by his late father, Andrew.

Mr Methven said: "About £20,000 to 30,000 would be mine and the rest would be a combination of what she had and what she would have inherited."

Mr Prentice asked: "Why was it not lodged in a bank?" and Mr Methven replied: "My mother was paranoid if she had to go into care that the family money would be taken from us." Mr Methven was then asked if he realised how much cash had been in the house and said no and agreed it was quite a shock.

The court also heard that £15,000 was stolen from their cottage in September 2011. Mr Methven said that this money was his and had been taken from his bedroom while his mother was out shopping.

He told the trial he had never told her the money had gone because he did not want to worry her, while he had never reported it to the police. The court heard that when police searched the cottage they found a taser.

Mr Methven said: "I thought it was a cattle prod, we used it to train the dog. It was very effective because it flashed and made a noise." Mr Prentice said: "You didn't operate it on the dog?", and he replied: "Good Lord, no."

Mr Methven also told the court that he had known murder accused Kean for 20 years and had first met him when he worked for the roads department of the council. After Kean left the council and set up a number of businesses he had continued to be friendly with him and had invested in one of his internet businesses.

Welcome face

He said that they also went 50/50 on buying and selling cars for pin money. Mr Methven added that Kean was well known to his mother. Mr Prentice asked: "Mr Kean would be a known face and would be welcome?" and he replied: "Yes, definitely."

Earlier the trial heard from Elizabeth Cook, 80, a friend of Mrs Methven for 50 years, who said she had a phone conversation with her on the day she died. She said it was interrupted at around 10.30am because Mrs Methven wanted to investigate a vehicle in her driveway.

Kean is also accused of stealing around £15,000 from Mrs Methven's home on September 14, last year.

It is also alleged that he attempted to defeat the ends of justice between February 20 and March 28 by pouring bleach onto a pair of bloodstained trousers, cutting a pocket from the trousers and then hiding then in the eaves of a garage in Blairgowrie, Perthshire.

Kean is charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice between March 13 and 19 by failing to turn up at Perth police headquarters to have his fingerprints taken for elimination purposes and repeatedly cutting his fingertips and palms to prevent police taking usable samples. Kean denies all the charges against him. The trial before Lord Glennie continues

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