Balaclava in murder accused's bag

Mrs Ross said her son could not have been responsible

A court has heard how a balaclava was found in the bag of a soldier accused of murdering a waiter in an Orkney restaurant 14 years ago.

Michael Ross was 15 when his mother Moira found the item after the shooting and told him to get rid of it.

He denies shooting Shamsuddin Mahmood in the head at the Mumutaz Indian Tandoori restaurant, Kirkwall, in 1994.

Mrs Ross told the court her son was a quiet, gentle person who "would not hurt a fly".

She also told the jury at the High Court in Glasgow she was proud of her son and had not noticed anything different in Ross' behaviour before the murder or in the days, months or years afterwards.

He wasn't in the army when he was 15. He was just 15. He wasn't killing people then Moira Ross Murder accused's mother

"He would put a spider out the house rather than kill it," she said.

Brian McConnachie QC, prosecuting, asked Mrs Ross: "Your son is in the army. In the army you may have to kill someone else?" She replied: "Yes"

Minutes later she added: "He wasn't in the army when he was 15. He was just 15. He wasn't killing people then."

Mr McConnachie told her: "With respect Mrs Ross, that is a matter for the ladies and gentlemen of the jury."

When asked by defence QC Donald Findlay if she believed the allegation that Ross walked into the restaurant with a balaclava covering his face and shot dead a waiter, she replied: "He certainly didn't do that."

Scaring people

When asked by Mr McConnachie: "As far as Michael is concerned there is no prospect of you believing he committed this murder. There is nothing that would make you believe it, is there?" Mrs Ross replied: "No that's right."

Mrs Ross told the court that after the shooting local youths were going around the Kirkwall area wearing balaclavas and scaring people.

Shamsuddin Mahmood was shot in the restaurant in June 1994

She said she did not want her son doing that, particularly as his father was a policeman, so after finding the balaclava in his school bag she told him to get rid of it.

Ross, 29, of Inverness, is accused of entering the Bridge Street restaurant on 2 June, 1994, with his face masked and shooting Mr Mahmood, 26, in the head.

He 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.

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

Ross is also accused of crouching behind a wall and trees in a mask and committing a breach of the peace on May 19, 1994, 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, before Lord Hardie, continues.