THE waiter gunned down in an Orkney restaurant was shot at close range, a court was told yesterday.
At the High Court in Glasgow, Dr James Grieve, 54, a pathologist, said the soot staining present on Shamsuddin Mahmood's face indicated that the gunman was "very close".
Dr Grieve told thew prosecutor, Brian McConnachie, QC: "I would start with o
ne to two feet. That is my opinion, but I would defer to a ballistics expert if told different."
Dr Grieve was giving evidence at the trial of Michael Ross, who denies murdering the 26-year-old waiter at the Mumutaz Indian Tandoori restaurant in Bridge Street, Kirkwall, on 2 June, 1994.
He told the court the bullet entered Mr Mahmood's left eye and exited through his right ear.
Dr Grieve was asked if the injury was survivable and replied: "I don't think there would be any possibility of him surviving."
He said the cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head.
Ross, 29, of Inverness, is accused of entering the restaurant with his face masked and shooting Mr Mahmood – also known as Shamol – in the head.
Ross, who was only 15 at the time of the incident, is also accused of attempting to defeat the ends of justice by changing his clothing and disposing of the weapon.
He is further charged with committing a breach of the peace outside the Indian restaurant by shouting, swearing, uttering threats of violence and racist abuse.
The trial, before Lord Hardie, continues.
The full article contains 255 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
