A PSYCHOLOGIST told a jury that, in his opinion, murder accused Luke Quinn has Asperger's Syndrome.

Professor Thomas MacKay said: "I have no doubt about it and it is something he has had since birth."

The High Court in Glasgow heard that Quinn, 33, who denies murdering 45-year-old Simon Richardson in Wellington Street, Glasgow, on November 10 last year was interviewed by Professor MacKay while in prison.

Quinn spoke of his feelings on the night of the incident when Mr Richardson was knocked to the ground, then punched and stamped on.

Prof MacKay told defence QC Donald Findlay: "He told me he didn't like touching people or being touched. Mr Quinn indicated he found himself is a suspicious situation, which might be threatening. Mr Richardson was touching him on the back. He said a hand on the back was one thing because he knew people did that.

"But he said he was being touched in a way he found increasingly uncomfortable and threatening. That someone he didn't know had come right into his space."

The jury has seen CCTV which shows Mr Richardson approaching Quinn and then being knocked to the ground.

It is alleged that Quinn punched Mr Richardson on the head causing him to fall to the ground, rifled through his pockets and repeatedly punched him on the head and body whereby he was so badly injured that he later died, suffering internal bleeding caused by a blow to the abdomen.

Quinn has lodged a special defence of dimished responsibility.