Murder accused fled to Greece after Aberdeen businessman's death

A man who allegedly murdered a restaurant owner has told a court how he stabbed the businessman after refusing to perform sex acts on him.

Riasat Khan,63, told a jury on Tuesday how he struck Kazi Ahmad,41, with a blade after the pair started arguing in a flat in Aberdeen in October 1978.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard Mr Khan say that Mr Ahmad had previously paid him for 'sexual relations'.

He said he was "deeply ashamed" of having sex with Mr Ahmad because he was a "religious" Moslem and that his religion judged homosexuality to be "very bad."

Mr Khan said this was the first time he had ever discussed having a homosexual encounter.

He hadn't told his family about his past and had only previously discussed what happened with his legal team.

But on the morning of Friday 13th October, Mr Khan said he didn't want to have intimate relations with Mr Ahmad in his bedroom.

Mr Khan said that Mr Ahmad fell out with him over the refusal and he thought the entrepreneur was going to grab a nearby knife or a bottle of alcohol.

Mr Khan said he grabbed the blade before Mr Ahmad could get his hands on it and then inflicted a number of blows on him with the weapon.

He told the court that he acted in self defence when he struck Mr Ahmad with the knife.

The chef told the court that following the attack, he left Aberdeen and travelled to Edinburgh where he placed a number of high stake bets at a gambling shop using money he had taken from his alleged victim.

Mr Khan said he then travelled to Birmingham and London before catching a ferry from Dover to France where he travelled onto Italy before catching a boat which took him to Greece.

The court heard that after he stayed there for approximately eight months, Mr Khan travelled back to Pakistan and remained there before travelling back to the UK in the early 1990s.

Mr Khan said that he made a new life for himself and had thought the matter was in his past until he was arrested at Birmingham Airport in May 2016 - 38 years after the alleged crime and moments before he was due to travel back to Pakistan.

Speaking about the moment he was arrested, Mr Khan said: "They said I killed somebody but I said I didn't do it."

Mr Khan, of Cardiff, was giving evidence on the fourth day of proceedings against him. He denies murdering Mr Ahmad and claims he acted in self defence.

On Tuesday, Mr Khan told defence advocate Gary Allan QC that he came to Britain from Pakistan as a child. He also said that he worked in the kitchen of Aberdeen's Raj Dulal restaurant.

The court heard that Mr Ahmad was one of four partners in the restaurant. Mr Khan stayed with Mr Ahmad at a property at Rosemount Viaduct, Aberdeen.

Mr Khan told the court that Mr Ahmad was his boss and that the Bangladeshi businessman was a keen gambler.

He said: "I used to go to the casino with him. He showed me how to bet. I started to put on small bets."

Mr Khan also said that in the weeks leading up to the alleged murder in October 1978, he started having sexual relations with Mr Ahmad.

The father of four said he needed money for his young family and that Mr Ahmad paid him for the encounters.

He told the court that homosexuality is regarded as a great "shame".

He added: "People look on it with shame. Those who practice it wouldn't be allowed to have a place in the community. They would be put away from the community. They would be alone."

Mr Khan said Mr Ahmad offered him cash in return for him performing sex acts.

He added: "he said to me that he would give me money if I did this and that.

"I didn't want to do it but he showed me a lot of money."

Mr Allan then asked him what he thought of himself doing this, Mr Khan replied: "Very bad."

Mr Khan said he felt pressured into performing sex acts on Mr Ahmad. He said Mr Ahmad threatened to tell his family and friends that he had homosexual encounters.

When Mr Allan asked Mr Khan whether he was "frightened" by his family learning about his alleged encounters, the accused replied: "Yes."

Mr Khan said he feared what the local Islamic community would think if news of their homosexual encounters emerged.

He added: "I was so scared that he would tell his friends and that they would kill me."

Mr Khan said that on the morning of the alleged murder, his flat mates had got up and left the property to go for work.

Mr Khan said he had stayed behind with the intention of performing more sex acts on Mr Ahmad in the businessman's bedroom.

However, he told the court that he had changed his mind and told Mr Ahmad that he didn't want to do it.

Mr Khan said: "He said 'you have to do it'. We started swearing at each other. He was upset. He was angry."

Mr Khan said that he and Mr Ahmad drank alcohol at that time and that a bottle and a knife lay nearby. He said he thought Mr Ahmad was going to grab either the knife or the bottle with the intention of striking him with the items.

He said: "We started fighting. He tried to strike me but I struck him first."

When Mr Allan asked him why he struck Mr Ahmad with a knife, Mr Khan replied: "I was scared. I thought he was going to hit me."

Mr Khan said he then left Aberdeen and headed to Edinburgh before heading to the continent. He eventually returned to Pakistan.

He said he took money from Mr Ahmad and spent it in a bookies in the Scottish capital.

Mr Khan told Mr Allan that Mr Ahmad was a terrible boss who treated restaurant workers "like slaves".

He said that Mr Ahmad was a Bangladeshi and that he didn't like Pakistanis.

Mr Khan claimed that this dislike stemmed from conflict which took place between the two countries in the early 1970s.

He added: "Mr Ahmad didn't like Pakistanis. He said he'd do the same thing to Pakistanis as what the Pakistani soldiers did to Bangladeshi women."

The court heard that this was a reference to the rape of Bangladeshi women during the conflict.

Prosecutors claim that Khan murdered Mr Ahmad on October 13 1978 at 54 Rosemount Viaduct Aberdeen, by striking him on the neck and body with a knife. He is also alleged to have robbed a quantity of money from Mr Ahmad.

He has pleaded not guilty to the murder charge and has lodged a special defence of self defence.

The trial, before judge Lord Beckett, continues.