Man 'felt forced to jump to his death' after torture in Aberdeen

A man felt compelled to jump to his death from a 12th floor apartment in Aberdeen to escape a man who had tortured him for two days, a court has heard.

Lee Smith, 37, kidnapped Jamie Forbes, also 37, and held him against his will at his home in Elphinstone Court in January.

Smith repeatedly hit his victim with a hammer during the attack, punching and kicking him before Mr Forbes made the jump that took his life.

Smith admitted manslaughter at the High Court in Edinburgh. He will be sentenced next month.

Judge Lady Hood heard how bad the abuse against Mr Forbes was that he had no choice but to jump out the window.

His body was found on the ground on January 15th.

Leanne McQuillan, prosecuting, told the court that police officers arrived shortly afterwards.

They discovered the lock to the apartment had been tampered with, which would have prevented Mr Forbes from leaving the apartment.

They found Smith washing dishes in his kitchen and blood stains throughout the apartment.

Ms McQuillan said: “The defendant told officers that he refused to clean up the blood in the living room as it was not his and he was waiting for the deceased to do so.”

She said Mr Forbes was last caught on CCTV entering the block on January 14.

The next morning, a contractor working nearby heard a male voice calling for the police. At the same time, a resident reported that he repeatedly heard a man calling for help, but did not know where it was coming from. She called 999.

A resident on the 10th floor heard a male voice repeatedly shouting, “Please help me.”

He went to the balcony to find out where it came from but couldn't see anyone. He thought the screaming was coming from above.

Two residents who lived directly above the defendant also heard cries for help. They looked down and saw the window downstairs was open and saw a man calling for help and the police.

Several other witnesses saw a man with blood on his face standing at a window of the apartment and calling for help. There were further calls to the police.

Ms McQuillan said: “Police officers attended on the 6th, 7th and 8th floors and carried out door-to-door inquiries but were unable to locate the source of the shouting.”

“They left the scene and advised the construction workers to call back if the shouting started again.”

The court heard two witnesses went to Smith's apartment and saw the victim lying in a pool of blood on the living room floor.

They left and Mr. Forbes jumped off the property.

Ms McQuillan said a post-mortem examination of Mr Forbes found injuries that were “significant and catastrophic”.

Defense barrister Mark Stewart KC said Smith and Mr Forbes were “friends” with each other and were “habitual drug users”.

He said: “The use of drugs in this case is not an excuse but an explanation.”

Lady Hood postponed sentencing so the court could obtain reports.

Smith is due to be sentenced at the High Court in Inverness on November 29.

In a statement at the time, Mr Forbes' family said: “Jamie was a much loved son, grandson, uncle, nephew, cousin and forever loved brother and brother-in-law.”