Closing Submissions Heard in Cranhill Case

A prosecutor urged a judge to find that murder accused Paul Ward killed a dog walker in Cranhill Park in Glasgow. Advocate depute Alex Prentice QC was giving his closing submission during an examination of facts into the death of 53-year-old Jean Campbell. Ward, 21, is accused of murdering 53-year-old Mrs Campbell by repeatedly striking her on the head and body with a dog lead and by means unknown inflicting further injuries at Cranhill Park, Glasgow, on December 13, 2013. He is deemed unfit to stand trial and is currently in the State Hospital. At the end of the examination of facts judge Lord Matthews will determine if Ward committed the offence. Mr Prentice said: "This was a sustained and ferocious attack. What is unusual is that the injuries sustained came from the dog lead." The hearing at the High Court in Glasgow heard that Mrs Ward suffered 11 broken ribs, a broken leg and was hit at least 15 times with the dog lead. The prosecutor added: "I would invited your lordship to conclude that Jean Campbell left her home at around 10.30pm on December 13, 2013, with her dog Kai. "She was filmed by a CCTV camera in Bellrock Street walking with her dog in the direction of the entrance to the park." He said : "The Crown never has to prove motive, but in this case there is evidence which would point to a motive on the part of Paul Ward. "Prior to Mrs Campbell's death he had said words to the effect of: 'She's always hitting the dog and he said to a witness 'How would she like it if I did that to her." "This is a circumstantial case. The dog lead was used on many occasions to hit Mrs Campbell - as many as 15 times. "When Mr Ward was questioned by police he reacted to being quoted what he had said about Mrs Campbell by looking up and staring at him." Mr Prentice said that scream swere heard about 11pm along with a dog barking and after that he claimed Ward went into 5 Crowlin Crescent, Cranhill to see his friend Thomas Leyden. The prosecutor said: "He was out of breath." He asked Lord Matthews to find that Ward had murdered Mrs Campbell or that he had killed her due to diminished responsibility caused by an abnormality of mind. Defence QC Donald Findlay in his closing submission said: "The Crown case is flawed." The QC said there was not a scrap of evidence that Ward had killed Mrs Campbell. He added: "There are a lot of unanswered questions. The overwhelming body of evidence shows that Paul Ward was not the attacker, because he was already in 5 Crowlin Crescent visiting his friend Thomas Leyden. "If we accept the Crown evidence about the scream then Mrs Campbell is still alive when Paul Ward goes into 5 Crowlin Crescent. "What is more significant is he hasn't changed his clothes before going into the Leyden's house at 5 Crowlin Crescent. "There is no sign that his clothes are dirty or his shoes are muddy. He is his normal self. There is nothing to suggest he had been at the scene where the body was found." Mr Findlay added: "There is not a scrap of evidence that his clothes were dirtied by the dog. He also had no scratches or bites from the dog." He said that the Crown insist that Mrs Campbell's was not sexually assaulted, although she had an injury to her private parts and her pyjama bottoms had been removed. Mr Findlay said: "The Crown have left open the possibility that this was sexually motivated for no other reason than why pull off her lower clothing." Judge Lord Matthews said: "I have to approach this as a jury. " He said that he would have to be satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt before he could determine that Ward had killed Mrs Campbell.