Bradley Welsh trial: Accused's trousers had gun residue in pocket

Bradley Welsh was shot outside his flat in Edinburgh in 2019

Gun discharge residue found in the trouser pockets of a man accused of killing a T2 Trainspotting actor matched that found on the dead man's clothing, a court has been told.

Bradley Welsh, 48, was fatally shot at his flat in the west end of Edinburgh on 17 April 2019.

Sean Orman, 30, is charged with murder, attempted murder, firearms and drugs offences.

He has pleaded not guilty to all 15 charges at the High Court in Edinburgh.

The court heard Mr Orman was wearing black North Face tracksuit bottoms when he was arrested on 22 April 2019.

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Giving evidence at the trial, forensic scientist Laura Wilcock said the trousers had firearms discharge residue (FDR) in the pockets.

This was found to have the same chemical composition as residue recovered from the clothing Mr Welsh was wearing when his body was discovered.

Shaking hands

Ms Wilcock said: "This would be the result of this item having had contact with a source of percussion primer FDR.

"Sources might be, for example, being in the vicinity of a discharging weapon, contact with a recently discharged weapon or a cartridge, or a combination of these."

Ian Duguid QC, defence counsel, asked whether it would be possible for firearms discharge residue to be transferred to the pockets after shaking hands with someone who had fired a gun.

Ms Wilcock said that could happen.

A forensic team near the scene of the shooting

Earlier, ballistics expert Martin Connolly said it was not possible to "forensically identify" whether a double-barrelled shotgun he examined was used to kill Mr Welsh.

Mr Duguid asked him: "The process you undertook couldn't identify distinguishing marks from the roof of Mr Welsh's mouth and the wadding that was subject to your test fire.

"That is the reason you can't say, presumably, this was the gun used to shoot Bradley Welsh?"

Mr Connolly replied: "Yes."

Police near the scene of the shooting

The court later heard that a Ford Kuga car was seen on CCTV cameras passing Mr Welsh's house about 40 minutes before he was shot dead.

CCTV footage also recorded a Ford Kuga circling around the car park at the Holyrood Boxing gym - Mr Welsh's business - on 9 April 2019.

Forensic biologist Adelle Blackwood, 43, said an examination of a Ford Kuga car associated with Mr Orman found DNA for him.

She agreed that a similar match was found on the vehicle's steering wheel.

Ms Blackwood also said that a balaclava in Orman's possession on 22 April 2019 - the date he was arrested for alleged traffic offences - also provided traces of his DNA.

She said DNA from both the outside and inside of the headwear was recorded and matches for Orman were found.

'Old-style shotgun'

On Thursday, the trial heard it was possible that the same type of gun fired at a property in Edinburgh was used to kill Mr Welsh.

Mr Connolly said that examinations of discharged ammunition found in a flat on Duddingston Row and during Mr Welsh's post-mortem examination showed they were "indistinguishable".

The court was then told that cartridges found at another property in the city were similar to those fired at Mr Welsh and in the Duddingston Row flat.

Witness Dean White has previously told the court that he saw Mr Orman fire an "old-style" shotgun into the floor of his brother's property on Duddingston Row.

The trial, before judge Lord Beckett, continues.