A decomposing body was found in a cupboard of an Aberdeen house, a murder trial has heard.

Police were called to Robert Mair's home in the city's Kettlehills Crescent because he had not been seen for weeks, a jury was told.

Sergeant Gail Craig described what happened when she arrived at the house just after 2p.m. on February 21.

She said a joiner had been called to force entry to the two-storey terraced house but before the joiner arrived she was able to look through a glass panel of the front door.

There was a small lobby area in front of the stairs and a thick blue duvet sticking out of a cupboard.

Sergeant Craig continued: "Protruding from the duvet I saw what I thought was a knee dressed in denim jeans."

She told advocate depute John Scullion, prosecuting, that she went into the house after the lock had been forced.

"I noticed a strong smell, a smell I associate with decomposing bodies, basically.

"I walked forward towards the cupboard area and peered over the duvet to see what was inside the cupboard and to see if what I thought was a knee was actually what I thought it was.

"On looking over, without moving anything at that point, I saw a pair of legs, basically two knees together."

Below the knees, the ankles were tied together, she added.

Mr Scullion asked: "Was it clear there was a body in the cupboard?" The sergeant told him: "Absolutely."

On trial at the High Court in Edinburgh are Derek Carswell, 40, and Stephen Rankin, 32, who deny charges of murder and attempting to defeat the ends of justice.

It is alleged that in January or February this year they attacked Mr Mair at the house at 28 Kettlehills Crescent, Aberdeen, grabbed him by the hair and neck, battered him with a weight and tied his arms, legs and mouth with duct tape and shoelaces.

The two are then accused of trying to cover up the alleged murder by washing the bloodstained weight, wrapping up the dead Mr Mair in a duvet and hiding the body in a cupboard.

Carswell further denies charges of breach of the peace by threatening Mr Mair on an earlier occasion, theft, attempted theft and fraud. It is alleged that he used Mr Mair's credit card to try to buy a television and accessories worth a total of £1472 on-line.

Both men deny all the charges against them and Rankin claims that he was acting under coercion if he did anything wrong.

The trial continues.