Man who stabbed woman 45 times may never be freed

Porchetta, who used cocaine, lived with his uncle Robert Nicoll, 59, and sister Gabriella, 29, after their parents died.

Mr Nicoll told the court his nephew had returned home at 07:00 on 7 May.

He recalled: “I asked him how his night was. He said: ‘Aye, it was alright’. He went upstairs.

“He changed his clothes and went out to work.”

The next afternoon an “upset” Porchetta went outside to speak to his uncle while he was gardening.

Mr Nicoll said: “He said to me: ‘The lassie has been murdered up the street. My pals told me’.

“Michael said he had been up at her house on the Friday night.

“He always went there. He said he had been taking drugs. He then said his pals had called and told him Aimee had been stabbed.”

Porchetta’s sister Gabriella also gave evidence and said she smelled what she thought was blood on his jeans when she went to get them for the wash.

The deputy charge nurse said: “I asked him where it had come from. He said he had cut his thumb after catching it on a barbed wire fence.

“He also said he had been to Aimee’s on Friday night, but left around midnight.

“He denied doing anything to Aimee.”