Boy tells trial of Yousaf’s brother-in-law he ‘can’t remember’ police interview

A child witness who saw a man “shaking” after being ordered to pay an alleged drug debt to Humza Yousaf’s brother-in-law claimed he “could not remember” speaking to police, a court has heard.

Ramsay El-Nakla, 37, the brother-in-law of the former first minister, is on trial at the High Court in Edinburgh along with co-accused Stephen Stewart, 52, Jennifer Souter, 39, and Victoria McGowan, 43.

It follows the death of a man who fell from a window in a property on Morgan Street, Dundee, after allegedly being threatened.

El-Nakla is accused of extortion and dealing class A drugs, but does not face a charge over the alleged killing of Ryan Munro, 36, on January 10, 2024.

Stewart, Souter and McGowan additionally face a charge specifically in relation to the plumber’s death.

All four deny all charges.

In a police interview, which was recorded on January 12, 2024, the boy – who cannot be named for legal reasons – said he went to the flat on Morgan Street with El-Nakla, after he had dropped off McGowan and Stewart at another flat in Dundee.

He said El-Nakla spent 20 minutes fixing the power in Morgan Street and that “Vicky and Stevie offered to pay for a hotel” in exchange for obtaining money from a man in the flat.

He described the man as “shaking”, the court heard.

On Wednesday, the boy said he could not remember that the interview had taken place.

In the video interview, the boy said: “They said ‘we will give you money for a hotel if you ask that guy for money’. The guy gave him the money.”

He added: “The guy (Stewart) said ‘we will give you money if you go and get some money off the guy who owes us money’.”

The boy said: “We went to Morgan Street, I saw him, he was shaking.”

He alleged El-Nakla said “do you have the money you are due Stevie and Vicky?”, adding “I need it”, the court heard.

The boy said: “He (Mr Munro) said, ‘I can get my brother to send you the money’. He got the money.”

The child alleged in the police interview that El-Nakla said: “We’ve got £200, is that enough,” and added: “They said ‘he’s going to need to get the other money soon’.”

In the same interview, the boy was asked to describe the flat and said: “The guy jumped from the second floor.”

He added: “It is where I walked in, where the window was. It was the same close, the same street, the same window.”

Under cross-examination, the boy said “I can’t remember” to at least four questions.

Advocate depute Alex Prentice said: “Do you remember meeting with police on January 12, 2024 about this matter?”

The boy said: “I don’t remember.”

Mr Prentice said: “Remember it was filmed and two people asked you questions?”

The boy said: “No.”

Detective Constable Darren Suttie also gave evidence and said he obtained a formal statement from witness Taylor Stephenson on February 13, 2024, however she became “uncooperative” and left before it could be signed, the court heard.

Mr Prentice read the statement which said: “Jennifer shouted at Ryan saying ‘why didn’t you lock the door, where’s me stuff’.

“He said he didn’t know and he left cos Jennifer fell asleep and as he went down the stairs he saw two other people coming up the stairs, he said he didn’t know who they were and he didn’t take the stuff.”

Another witness, Lorraine Jackson, provided an informal statement which read: “She has sourced crack through the letterbox which was given to her by Jennifer Souter, identifying her by voice, however she also heard Victoria McGowan and Stephen Stewart’s voices within the flat, along with another voice, which she could not identify and could not confirm if it was male or female,” the court heard.

In a police interview on April 3, 2024, which was shown to the jury, Souter was read a statement she provided on January 17, 2024.

In the statement, she admitted being at the flat on Morgan Street on January 8, 2024, with McGowan and Stewart but said she left the following day, and that “Vicky had some visitors, but I didn’t see them as she took them into a separate room”.

She said when she was approached by CID on January 11, 2024, about the incident at Morgan Street, she had “no idea what had happened”.

Souter’s police statement said she attended her father’s funeral and was told by two associates that “Steve Stewart had jumped out of Vicky’s window on Morgan Street”, and added: “I heard Steve was thrown out the window by a male,” the court heard.

The trial, in front of Judge Lady Drummond, continues.