Accused in 'corrupt police' claim

Derek Carswell, 40, said he planned to steal a laptop from the home of then councillor Raymond Hutcheon.

Mr Carswell and Stephen Rankin, 32, deny murdering Robert Mair, 57, whose body was found in Aberdeen's Kettlehills Crescent in February.

The trial, at the High Court in Edinburgh, continues.

Mr Carswell - who is currently serving a sentence for a drugs offence - believes he was set up.

"To prove, you know that Aberdeen police were, you know, doing things, wrong things"
Derek Carswell
Murder accused

He told the court he had gone to Mr Mair's home in January this year looking for the truth about why he had been arrested and put on trial in Peterhead.

He described how they had argued and "grappled", and that Mr Mair fell off his bed.

Mr Carswell said he thought he was responsible for Mr Mair's death, but he denied hitting him with a weightlifter's weight, or kicking or punching him.

He admitted returning to the scene at a later date to see if the body had been found.

Binding limbs

Mr Carswell said during that visit to Aberdeen, he planned to break into the home of city councillor Raymond Hutcheon to steal a laptop.

He believed it had evidence of wrongdoing by police officers going back to 2002, and involving his own trial in Peterhead.

Of his reason, he said: "To prove, you know that Aberdeen police were, you know, doing things, wrong things."

The court heard Mr Hutcheon resigned from the council during the murder investigation.

Mr Carswell and Mr Rankin are alleged to have travelled from their Ayrshire homes and attacked Mr Mair by repeatedly striking him with a weight-lifters' weight and binding his arms and legs.

The two deny murder and attempting to defeat the ends of justice by hiding the body in a cupboard.

Mr Carswell also denies stealing Mr Mair's BMW and his Alsatian dog, Travis, and trying to use the dead man's credit card to buy a TV set.

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