Police 'error' in murder evidence

Miss Gallagher worked in Glasgow's red light district

The man accused of murdering prostitute Jacqueline Gallagher has denied being in the red light area where she worked just hours before she was killed.

George Johnstone told the High Court in Glasgow that police "made an error" in notes in which he allegedly admitted being in the district.

The accused said he had been helping friends to move furniture.

Miss Gallagher's battered body was found in a lay-by in West Dunbartonshire in June 1996.

Mr Johnstone, 43, has denied murdering the 26 year-old drug-addict, from Foxbar, Paisley, on Monday, 24 June 1996.

The police made an error in taking my statement. Any mistake was theirs and not mine George Johnstone Murder accused

The jury heard how the kitchen fitter was alleged to have given a statement to police in which he said he had visited the red-light area - known as "the drag" - for a few hours on the previous evening.

However, Mr Johnstone stated in court: "That was not my account in any way - I definitely did not go to 'the drag' that night.

"The police made an error in taking my statement. Any mistake was theirs and not mine."

He also denied contacting police to change his statement days later.

Alibi defence

Mr Johnstone said the same officers telephoned him and asked him to make a further statement because they had made "an error" during the first interview.

He added: "I did not say I had made a mistake when I spoke to police again. I was never in Glasgow that night and never told them I had been."

The accused told the court that the last time he spoke to Miss Gallagher, who he has admitted to having regular sex with, was during the early hours of the Sunday morning.

The accused has lodged a special defence of alibi naming 14 other men and three unknown men as possibly being responsible.

The trial before Lord Carloway continues.