Accused taxi driver was ‘in shock’, court hears

A taxi driver was upset and shaking when he went to a police station to report that he had run over a man, a murder trial has been told.

• Taxi driver was “sweating” and “very pale” as he reported running over man to police station, trial hears

Stephen Nolan, 48, denies mudering Ebrahim Aryaei Nekoo, 41

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Stephen Nolan, 48, said Ebrahim Aryaei Nekoo, 41, had chased him with a knife in a car park after a row, and he had jumped back into his cab.

Somehow, Mr Aryaei Nekoo had gone under the vehicle, he added.

Nolan, of Redhall Place, Edinburgh, denies murdering Mr Aryaei Nekoo, a private hire driver, of Carrick Knowe Hill, Edinburgh, on 24 March last year in a car parking area near the Fords Road entrance of the city’s Saughton Park. It is alleged that Nolan repeatedly drove a black cab at him, struck him on the body, and drove over him.

Earlier that day, it is claimed, Nolan shouted at Mr Aryaei Nekoo and adopted an aggressive and intimidating manner towards him at a petrol station near the park.

Nolan also pleads not guilty to other charges, including assaulting and menacing a motorist, and threatening a fellow taxi driver and putting him in a state of fear and alarm for his safety.

Fiona Pagan, a support officer at Wester Hailes police station, Edinburgh, told the High Court in Edinburgh that Nolan came in about 8:25am, while most of the station’s officers were at “an incident” in Saughton Park.

He said there had been “an exchange of words” with Mr Aryaei Nekoo at a petrol station, and the other man had followed him to the park.

He stated that he had to jump back into his taxi when Mr Aryaei Nekoo chased him with a knife.

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“Somehow Ebrahim Aryaei Nekoo got underneath the wheel of his vehicle,” added Ms Pagan.

She described Nolan as physically upset and shaking.

“He looked unwell. He was sweating... he looked to me as if he was in shock. He looked red around the eyes as if he had been crying. He was very pale,” added Ms Pagan.

The trial continues.

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