Witness 'froze' after shooting

Witness 'froze' after shooting

Murder trial hears evidence of witnesses near the scene where a businessman was shot in the face.

A woman was "frozen to the spot" after witnessing the shooting of a businessman outside an Edinburgh casino, a murder trial has heard.

The scene on the night Tony Demarco, 63, was shot in the head has been described by a number of eye-witnesses at the High Court in Edinburgh.

Mr Demarco of Danderhall, Midlothian, told the court earlier a bullet was still lodged in his cheek after being gunned down as he walked to his silver Mercedes on the night of June 3 last year.

Four men deny conspiracy to murder and attempting to murder Mr Demarco outside the Gala Maybury Casino near The Gyle shopping centre.

Janice Alexander, 43, told how her car was stopped at traffic lights when she saw a man running.

"I went into a kind of trance because I saw a flash and heard a bang," she said.

"I was frozen to the spot for a few seconds. Then it began to register I had witnessed someone being shot."

A number of other witnesses in the area on the night told how they saw a suspicious small red car driving fast out of the city, and a man wearing dark clothing running.

Francis McGlone, 39, of 24 Lochfield Crescent, Paisley; Jamie Robertson, 25, of 81 Stock Street, Paisley; Imran Sakur, 35, of 12 Elcho Drive, Broughty Ferry, Dundee, and Craig Kelbie, 35, of 4 Saggar Street, Dundee are all facing charges of plotting to murder Mr Demarco.

The trial continues.