SNS GroupA man accused of murdering a Trainspotting T2 actor objected to an identity parade because he appeared too tanned, a court has heard.
Bradley Welsh, 48, was fatally shot at his flat in the west end of Edinburgh on April 17, 2019.
Sean Orman, 30, has pleaded not guilty to all 15 charges against him, including murder, attempted murder, firearms and drugs offences, and is on trial at the High Court in Edinburgh.
Giving evidence on Thursday, PC David Cuthbert told how he had rejected complaints by the accused and his solicitor about the video identification parade process, known as Viper, after his arrest in April 2019.
The court heard images taken for the purposes of the exercise were deemed by Orman to show him with too dark a complexion compared to the others taking part in the line-up.
PC Cuthbert, 44, said: “The accused went through the process and he made a comment, on memory on his complexion being more tanned than others.
“I had recorded it in my statement. I also made the solicitor aware that that comment had been made.
“The solicitor did not attend.”
It was heard the solicitor attended a later Viper process on May 6, 2019, where he also objected to the line-up.
Ian Duguid QC, defence counsel, then read the legal representative’s complaint, which included worries about media reports of a tanned suspect.
It said: “I wasn’t invited as his solicitor to engage in the Viper process on April 22, 2019.
“There don’t appear to be any stand-ins of sufficiently similar complexion i.e. he quite clearly is tanned.
“There don’t appear to be any other stand-ins that are tanned. It’s more significant when there have been reports in the media of a tanned suspect.
“My objection is that for these reasons the parade as it is constituted is unfair.”
The court was told the officer’s response was that he noted the objection but he deemed the stand-ins were fair in terms of appearances.
A joint minute shows Orman attended Indigo Sun tanning salon in Edinburgh nine times between March 9, 2019, and April 12, 2019.
The trial, before judge Lord Beckett, continues.
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