Murder accused 'wrote prison letter blaming other men'

Mrs Jamil's worked as an agony aunt for Asian radio station Awaz FM

A man accused of murdering Asian radio presenter Nasim Jamil wrote a letter from prison claiming that she was killed by three men, a court has heard.

Handwriting expert, Jonathan Morris, told the High Court in Glasgow that he had compared the letter with other documents written by Khalid Sarwar.

The 29-year-old is accused of murdering Mrs Jamil, 54, by repeatedly striking her on the head and body.

He denies killing the Awaz FM presenter at her flat in Glasgow last December.

The court heard that Mr Morris compared the letter, which was written on prison notepaper, with a resignation letter, a self-certification sick note and a loan application form which were all known to have been written by Mr Sarwar.

'Identified similarities'

Mr Morris told prosecutor, Dorothy Bain QC: "We identified similarities from the known writing. Our conclusion is that the letter was written by the same person."

Under cross-examination from defence QC Donald Findlay, Mr Morris admitted that he could not tell if Mr Sarwar had written the letter while thinking about what to say, or if it had been dictated to him or if he was copying it from another document.

Mr Morris was also asked to examine the writing of an email address on a scrap of bloodstained paper found in the common close downstairs from Mrs Jamil's flat in Byres Road, Glasgow.

Mrs Jamil's body was found at her flat in Byres Road

He said: "Our finding was that it is probable that Khalid Sarwar was responsible for this piece of writing."

Mr Sarwar is accused of repeatedly striking Mrs Jamil on the head and body with a hammer, screwdriver, knife or similar instruments, repeatedly striking her on the head with a bottle and piece of glass and murdering her.

He is also accused of stealing a light bulb, two telephones, keys, gloves, a watch, a bracelet, a necklace, a pair of earrings, clothing, three knives, a bank card, an umbrella, a handbag and its contents and money.

He faces a third charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice.

Mr Sarwar denies all the charges and has lodged a special defence of incrimination.

The trial before Lord Brodie continues.