Probe into Aberdeen death of Eastern European man

POLICE are investigating after an Eastern European man was believed to have been stabbed to death in his Aberdeen home.
Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the man's death. Picture: Police ScotlandPolice are investigating the circumstances surrounding the man's death. Picture: Police Scotland
Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the man's death. Picture: Police Scotland

Neighbours heard shouts coming from the property in the Torry area of the city on Sunday night.

A huge police investigation was launched at the sprawling four storey-building on Balnagask Avenue after the man’s death was reported on Monday.

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But officers said they were still treating the incident as “unexplained”.

Police sealed off parts of the building, while shocked residents gathered on the surrounding streets.

The ambulance service was the first to respond to the incident.

The service sent a rapid response car and an ambulance to the scene but the man was thought to have been dead on their arrival.

An ambulance spokeswoman said: “We didn’t transport anyone to hospital.”

Detectives and police forensic teams could be seen going in and out of the flat all evening.

Neighbour Sarah Main, 28, said she had heard an argument coming from the flat on Sunday.

She said: “There was a lot of shouting on Sunday night. It started about 9.30pm but then the next morning it was normal.

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“I went for a walk and I noticed there was an ambulance there about 1.30pm. And then the next minute police are there and the area is cordoned off.

“But there was a lot of shouting on Sunday night. I heard a man’s deep voice.”

The occupant of an adjoining flat to the dead man described going out to walk his dog with his wife and returning to find police surrounding the buildings.

He said: “We’d just taken the dog around the park and that must have been the back of 12pm. I came in and heard some sort of first-response paramedics. Then, when we came back, there was a CID van sitting there.

“Then I looked farther up and there were more and more police cars. That was 2pm. I have never seen anything like this here.

“My understanding is that it’s one of these flats for the homeless and there’s a couple of people sharing one flat.

“I don’t know who was in the flat. I have seen a few new faces walking past.”

Another local man - who was working on his car near the building when police first arrived - said: “At about 2pm police started putting the tape up. I said, ‘That’s definitely something serious’.”

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He added that there was “always something going on” in the area, but “nothing like that” had taken place while he had lived there.

A police spokeswoman said: “Police Scotland were made aware of the death of a male at a property in the Balnagask Avenue area of Torry at around 2.10pm on Monday.

“The death is being treated as unexplained and inquiries are at an early stage to establish the circumstances surrounding the death.”

Torry and Ferryhill councillor Alan Donnelly described the man’s death as “sad news”.

He said: “I’m sad to hear this happening and my condolences go to his family and friends. We have had a number of eastern Europeans in Torry.

“Some of them struggle to get on their feet with the struggle of coming to Aberdeen and finding a job. A lot of them struggle and fall by the wayside.

“The council needs to help communities so it’s a lot easier to combat this.

“It sends a bad signal as well. There’s a large eastern European community here who are hard-working. It’s really sad news.”