Waiter 'could not survive' shot

Shamsuddin Mahmood was shot dead in 1994

A waiter shot dead with a single bullet to the head had no chance of surviving due to the close range, a murder trial has heard.

Michael Ross, 29, denies murdering 26-year-old Shamsuddin Mahmood at the Mumutaz restaurant in Kirkwall in 1994.

Pathologist Dr James Grieve, 54, said that the soot staining on his face indicated the gunman was "very close".

Mr Ross, of Inverness, who was 15 at the time of the waiter's death, is on trial at the High Court in Glasgow.

Speaking about the distance, Dr Grieve told prosecutor Brian McConnachie QC: "I would start with one to two feet.

"That is my opinion but I would defer to a ballistics expert if told different."

He told the court that the bullet entered through Mr Mahmood's left eye and exited through his right ear.

Asked if the injury was survivable, Dr Grieve said: "I don't think there would be any possibility of him surviving."

Special defence

Mr Ross is also accused of attempting to defeat the ends of justice by changing his clothing and disposing of the weapon.

He is further charged with, while acting with others whose identities are unknown, committing a breach of the peace outside the Indian restaurant by shouting, swearing, uttering threats of violence and racist abuse.

The offence was allegedly committed between 3 May and 24 May, 1994.

Mr Ross is also accused of committing a breach of the peace on 19 May that year in Papdale Woods, Kirkwall.

He denies all charges and has lodged a special defence of alibi claiming he was nowhere near the Indian restaurant or Kirkwall town centre, but was cycling in another part of Orkney.

The trial continues.