Woman cleared of killing ex-lover

A 24-year-old woman has been found not guilty of killing her former boyfriend with a wine bottle during a party at her Morningside flat in Edinburgh.

Laura King and Peter Tarwinski, 25, stood trial accused of the culpable homicide of Alexander Thomson.

The 20-year-old later died following the assault on 13 January.

A jury at the High Court in Glasgow convicted King of the reduced charge of assault and cleared her friend Mr Tarwinski of the killing.

The High Court in Glasgow heard how Mr Thomson had turned up at the flat in Newbattle Terrace in the early hours of the morning.

He later started fighting with Mr Tarwinski as King "cheered" them on.

King, who was convicted of assault in 2002 and carried out a knife attack in 2005, admitted hitting Mr Thomson over the head with a bottle up to three times.

Both she and Tarwinski, a former pupil of Edinburgh school Stewart's Melville, lodged a special defence of self defence.

"Even without the altercation he still might have collapsed and died"
Juan Carlos Arango
Pathologist

The court heard how Mr Thomson and King had been in an on-off relationship, and prior to his death, King had allegedly made threats against him.

Judge Mark Stewart QC said: "You have been convicted of what can only be described as a nasty assault.

"You have a record for a woman of your age which is to say the least concerning."

Outside court, Mr Thomson's mother Wendy Barlow said: "We tried hard to keep him away from her.

"He had everything to live for. Maybe if the jury had known her previous convictions, it might have been different."

Pathologist Juan Carlos Arango - who carried out a post-mortem on Mr Thomson - said the cause of death was chronic cocaine abuse and the assault.

He said Mr Thomson had a slightly enlarged heart which could have been as a result of his drug habit.

He told the court that none of the Mr Thomson's injuries were life-threatening.

"Even without the altercation he still might have collapsed and died," he said.

King was remanded in custody pending sentencing next month.

RELATED INTERNET LINKS
Lothian and Borders Police
Scottish Court Service
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites