Man accused of Bradley Welsh shooting says he's 'never seen a gun in his life'
| Author | Alan McEwen |
| Published date | 05 May 2021 |
The 30-year-old dismissed as "ridicuous" claims he'd regularly visited a tanning salon before the gym boss' murder to change his complexion as a "disguise".
And Orman said he'd "ditched" his iPhone down a drain in the hours after the killing because it was "faulty".
Orman is on trial at the High Court in Edinburgh where he denies murdering Welsh on April 17 2019. He claims he was on a cycle ride from the city to West Lothian at the time Welsh was shot.
Orman further denies the attempted murder of Welsh's long-time pal David McMillan, 50, in the city's Morningside on March 13 2019 using a machete or similar instrument.
He told how he'd been released from prison on February 20 2019 after serving a five-year sentence. The jail term was over three assault and robberies at bookmakers and Orman said he committed those crimes alone.
Upon release he described staying in a hostel for a month as a condition of his release.
Orman said he'd been brought up in Edinburgh where his mother Shona still stayed but his father had passed away.
A week after his release, Orman said he began "moving stolen cars" as a way to make money, receiving calls and texts about vehicles which needed to be picked up and moved.
Orman said he got the illegal work from a man called 'Omar', whom he'd met previously in prison, and he never stole cars himself. He said he thought 'Omar' had died a "couple of months ago".
Orman said he picked up the first car in Kirknewton and a phone was inside it. The phone was an "encro", he said, which meant it was encrypted and that was the device he used to receive jobs collecting stolen cars until it was seized by police during his arrest on April 22 2019.
Later he described Kirknewton as a "hub" for stolen cars being dropped off, which he assumed was vehicles "coming through from the west".
Ian Duguid QC, defending Orman, asked his client about an Audi Q3 which Orman was driving when he led police on a high-speed chase through Edinburgh before his arrest.
Orman said he'd also picked up that car from Kirknewton.
Mr Duguid asked Orman about his activities in March 2019 when he visited the home of Robert White in the city's Duddingston area.
Orman said he was introduced to White by James 'Peem' Davidson who was a friend of his "from jail" whom he'd "bumped into" after release. He said he met Robert's brother, Dean White...
To continue reading
Request your trial