Dunblane rape bid accused 'punched and kicked woman'
A man accused of attempting to rape a 76-year-old woman in her home, confessed to police he punched and kicked her, a court has heard.
Ryan Liddell, 20, told officers he had gone into the woman's flat at four in the morning "to see what it was like".
Jurors were watching videos of Mr Liddell being interviewed by police on the day of the alleged attack.
Mr Liddell denies assaulting the woman with the intent to rape in her flat in Dunblane, Perthshire, on 14 June 2010.
He also denies attempting to defeat the ends of justice by washing his blood-stained clothing after the alleged attack in a bid to destroy evidence.
On the fifth day of the trial, the High Court in Dumbarton heard Mr Liddell say that he "panicked" when the woman screamed and punched her three times and kicked her once on the ground, as well as muffling her screams to keep her quiet.
He also admitted that when he got home, he washed his trousers as he realised there was blood on them which was "probably" from the woman he attacked.
In the video, Mr Liddell, who lives just a few doors away from the woman's ground-floor flat, said he was "blitzed" at the time he went into her home.
When questioned by detective constable Rory Batemen about why he entered the flat, he replied: "I just wanted to see what it was like. I know that sounds ridiculous."
Punched and kicked
Mr Liddell added: "When I went in, a woman in her 60s or 70s started screaming. I panicked.
"I pushed her over and picked her up again and she started screaming again so I put my hand over her mouth and she kept screaming so I punched her and then kicked her on the ground."
The accused then said he ran off.
He said he thought he had punched her three times, and kicked her once.
When asked why he assaulted her, he replied: "She wouldn't stop screaming."
He denied taking off any of the woman's clothing or telling the woman that he wanted to have sex with her.
The court heard that the week after the incident, the alleged victim failed to identify Liddell in a video identification parade.
The woman, who was described as being "very upset" during the parade, told police at the time: "My God. My memory's terrible. I don't think I would know him."
The trial before Lord Uist continues.