Cumming accused’s story branded ‘utter nonsense’

THE account of a man accused of attempting to murder a senior law official in Edinburgh has been described as “utter nonsense”.

Robert Graham, 46, who denies attacking former deputy chief executive of the Law Society of Scotland Leslie Cumming, told court that he in fact saved the 68-year-old from receiving a worse beating.

But yesterday at the High Court in Edinburgh, that version was ridiculed by the prosecution.

Mr Cumming was attacked with a knife outside his Murrayfield home in 2006, leaving him permanently scarred.

In her closing speech, solicitor general for Scotland Lesley Thomson QC told jurors of Graham: “He told lies about what he did that night. He told lies with the aim of escaping a guilty verdict.”

Defence counsel Mhairi Richards QC said there had been sloppy work in relation to the forensic analysis carried out.

The trial continues.