The man felt compelled to jump to his death after being tortured

A man felt compelled to jump to his death from a 12-storey flat in Aberdeen to escape a man who tortured him for two days, a court heard.

Lee Smith, 37, kidnapped Jamie Forbes, 37, and held him against his will at his Elphinstone Court flat in January.

During the attack, Smith repeatedly hit his victim with a hammer, punches and kicked him before Mr Forbes made the leap that ended his life.

Smith admitted manslaughter at the High Court in Edinburgh. He will be sentenced next month.

Judge Lady Hood heard that the abuse of Mr Forbes was so horrific that he had no choice but to jump out of the window.

His body was found on the ground on January 15.

Leanne McQuillan, prosecuting, said police arrived shortly afterwards.

They discovered that the lock on the flat had been turned, preventing Mr Forbes from leaving.

They found Smith washing up in his kitchen and blood stains all over the apartment.

Ms McQuillan said: “The accused told police he was refusing to clean up the blood in the living room because it wasn’t his and he was waiting for the deceased to do it.”

She said Mr Forbes was last seen on CCTV entering the unit on January 14.

The next morning, a contractor working nearby heard a man’s voice yelling for the police. At the same time, a nearby resident also reported hearing a man repeatedly yelling for help, but wasn’t sure where it was coming from. She called 999.

A resident of the 10th floor heard a man’s voice repeatedly shouting “please help”.

He went out on the balcony to try to understand where it was coming from, but he didn’t see anyone. He believed that the cry was coming from above.

Two residents who lived directly above the accused also heard cries for help. They looked down and saw that the downstairs window was open and saw a man screaming for help and the police.

A number of other witnesses saw a man at the window of the apartment with a bloody face calling for help. There were more appeals to the police.

Significant injuries

Ms McQuillan said: “Police officers attended and searched the 6th, 7th and 8th floors but were unable to trace the source of the screams.

“They left the location, advising the builders to call back if the screaming started again.”

The court heard that two witnesses entered Smith’s apartment and saw the victim lying on the living room floor in a pool of blood.

They left and Mr. Forbes jumped out of the apartment.

Ms McQuillan said a post-mortem examination of Mr Forbes revealed “significant and catastrophic injuries”.

Barrister Mark Stewart QC said Smith and Mr Forbes were “friends” of each other and were “regular drug users”.

He said: “In this case drug use is not an excuse but an explanation.”

Lady Hood adjourned sentence for the court to receive the reports.

Smith is due to be sentenced at Inverness High Court on November 29.

In a statement, Mr Forbes’ family said: “Jamie was a much loved son, grandson, uncle, nephew, cousin and forever loved brother and brother-in-law.”

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