A grandmother wept as she told a court of the moment she “exploded” and killed an Aberdeen pensioner following an argument at his home.
Sharyn Stewart, 53, told jurors she took 65-year-old Alan Cowie’s life during a confrontation at his flat on January 2 last year.
Stewart told the High Court in Edinburgh that in the months leading to the incident she occasionally lived with Mr Cowie.
She told defence lawyer Stephen O’Rourke QC she and Mr Cowie weren’t romantically involved.
However, she said Mr Cowie would verbally abuse her.
She said he had occasionally asked her to sleep with him but she didn’t have any sexual interest in him.
Stewart told the court that before she killed Mr Cowie she spent the day with him drinking alcohol.
She said they started arguing with each other in the moments leading up to the assault.
Stewart said: “The argument was going back and forth…
“He was going on about how my pyjamas were made of steel as I wouldn’t let him anywhere near me.
“I remember him running into me and pushing me. I fell back. It was like slow motion.
“When I got up, I don’t know, I exploded. I remember standing over him with my feet on his throat.
“He was laughing at me.
“I was banging him off the floor.
“I was shouting…” she said.
“That’s what I remember. Everything was just ‘Boom! Boom! Boom!’ I went to the living room and closed the kitchen door.
“I walked up and down the floor for what seemed like hours.
“I was drinking vodka straight from the bottle.
“Now, I think, Why did I not stop? Why did I not stop?”
Keep up to date with the latest news with The Evening Express newsletter
Stewart was giving evidence on the fourth day of proceedings against her.
She denies charges of murdering Mr Cowie and attempting to murder him in April 2017.
Stewart told Mr O’Rourke she had spent her life battling addictions to alcohol and drugs.
She said she had worked as a prostitute and had attempted suicide.
Stewart said she first met Mr Cowie as a relative lived directly beside him at his property in Alexander Terrace.
The court heard that even though she had her own flat nearby, Stewart would spend many evenings staying with Mr Cowie in his spare room.
When Mr O’Rourke asked what her relationship was like, Stewart said: “It wasn’t good. It was volatile. We weren’t good for each other.”
She also said that in the four days before the January 2 incident, she failed to take medication which regulated her health. The court heard the medication included methadone.
She added: “The lack of tablets made me overthink constantly.”
Prosecutors claim that on April 18 2017 Stewart attempted to murder Mr Cowie at his home by pushing him and repeatedly kicking him on his head and body.
She also allegedly placed a plastic bag over his head and allegedly restricted his breathing.
The Crown also claim that on January 2 last year Stewart murdered Mr Cowie by striking him on the head and body with a bottle before knocking him to the ground.
It is also claimed that during this assault Stewart stood on Mr Cowie’s neck and restricted his breathing.
She has pled not guilty to the charges.
Her legal team have entered a special defence which states at the time of the January 2 incident Stewart wasn’t responsible for murdering Mr Cowie because her “ability to determine or control her conduct was substantially impaired by reason of abnormality of mind.”
The trial, before judge Lord Pentland, continues.
This article originally appeared on the Evening Express website. For more information, read about our new combined website.
