Murder accused told Dad he had 'nothing' to with death of a Glasgow pensioner

A murder accused told his dad he had “nothing to do with what happened” hours after a pensioner was stabbed in a Glasgow street, a court heard.

Barry Dalgleish, 56, said he asked his son Peter Telfer the day after John Baker was attacked if he knew anything about it.

The High Court in Glasgow heard Mr Dalgleish used a bread knife hours before the alleged murder but it has since “went missing”.

Jurors also heard Telfer told his sister Heather Dalgleish he thought about seeing a psychiatrist because of “negative thoughts about money” and that he thought about “mugging people and more”.

The witnesses were giving evidence at the trial of Peter Telfer who is accused of murdering 76-year-old Mr Baker on June 29 last year in Calton, in Glasgow's east end.

Telfer is also accused of assaulting and attempting to rob shop worker Owaisuddin Siddique at the Day-Top on Shettleston Road and carrying a knife on June 24.

He also faces a string of charges including behaving in a threatening or abusive manner at various streets in Glasgow city centre and assaulting and robbing two women of their handbags, on June 28.

The 25-year-old allegedly attempted to defeat the ends of justice as well being charged with possessing cannabis.

The court heard Telfer moved in with Dalgleish at his home at Green Street, Calton, around April last year.

Mr Dalgleish said he didn't know they were father and son until around three weeks after Telfer was arrested for the alleged murder when a DNA test confirmed it.

The witness said his daughter Heather asked if Telfer could stay with him and he treated him as "a sort of lodger”.

He told the court Telfer was out of the house on June 28 and returned home around 12.30am on June 29.

Advocate depute Ian McSporran, prosecuting, asked: “Did you have any conversation at that time?”

Mr Dalgleish replied: “No, I didn't I was in my bed at that time. As I recall he came in the house and went in to his room and went to bed.”

He told the court he became aware of a blue flashing light and got up to look out the window and saw a police car across the road and officers who seemed like they were looking for something.

Mr McSporran asked: “Did you ask Peter if he knew anything?”.

The witness replied: “I did, I spoke to him about it in the afternoon and I remembered that he had come in quite late the night before and asked him if he knew anything about it and he said basically no he didn't.”

He told the jury: “As I recall after I asked the question he said to me that he didn't have anything to do with what happened and I thought to myself at the time, I just asked him if he knew something about it.

“I couldn't understand why he was saying he didn't have anything to do with it.”

Mr Dalgleish said he had a large kitchen knife in his house but hasn't got it any more. He said “It went missing, I have never found it”.

Asked when that was he said: “I was actually looking for it I think it was after Peter was arrested and I couldn't find it."

He was shown an excerpt from a police statement he gave on June 30 which he said would be the truth he told.

Speaking about the knife, Mr Dalgleish told officers “I was looking for it yesterday and couldn't find it.”

The jury also heard he said: “I last used the knife around tea-time on Tuesday.”

It was said that tea-time was between 4-5pm.

Miss Dalgleish told of a Facebook messenger exchange between her and Telfer after he was kept in police custody for a weekend then released.

She said Telfer initially claimed he had been arrested after being involved in a fight but later told her in the message it was for an assault and attempted armed robbery.

Jurors saw a message sent to her that said he was “thinking about seeing a psychiatrist” and said “I have had regular thoughts about mugging people and more”.

Telfer denies the charges and the trial before judge Lord Matthews continues.