Murdered traveller woman ‘disliked because she was gay’

A woman who was allegedly murdered by her brother and his girlfriend was disliked by members of her traveller community because she was gay, a court has heard.

Annalise Johnstone, 22, was stabbed to death at the Maggie’s Wall Memorial near Dunning, Perthshire, Scotland.

Jordan Johnstone, 25, and his girlfriend Angela Newlands, 28, are accused of murdering Annalise in May 2018, but both deny the charges.

On Thursday, the High Court in Livingston heard the victim had kept details of her relationship with a woman private.

The jury heard that the victim’s brother told police: “She’s quite private about some things and open about others. She was private about who her girlfriend was.”

He added Annalise had been on the phone to her girlfriend before she died.

Annalise Johnstone, 22, was stabbed to death at the Maggie’s Wall Memorial near Dunning, Perthshire (Wiki Commons)

“I think she must have been feeling low because of issues with her girlfriend. I knew it was her girlfriend due to the way she was speaking to her,” he said.

“I knew she was feeling down, then she started shouting, calling her girlfriend a b***h.”

Angela Newlands, who also denies murdering Annalise, told police she thought the missing victim could “be at her girlfriend’s.”

Newlands added: “She won’t be at the caravan park because certain people don’t like her going there because she’s gay.”

The victim’s best friend, Donna Paton, said the accused couple gave “confusing” accounts of Annalise’s final hours.

Paton said Annalise had left with the couple the day before she died, but gave no “hint” she would not return that night.

The victim’s estranged father, Gordon Johnstone, 44, said he had he had stopped communicating with his daughter after she came out as a lesbian.

Speaking to the jury, he said: “We left on an argument. That’s haunted me to this day.”

The accused couple also deny attempting to defeat the ends of justice by cleaning their car to remove evidence and making a false report that the victim was missing.

The trial continues.

• Dec 01 2023

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