The sister of a man accused of killing a waiter told a jury he claimed he had got away with the 'perfect murder'.

Margaret Chisholm, 57, was giving evidence at the trial of Ronnie Coulter, 48, from Wishaw, who denies murdering Surjit Singh Chhokar in Overtown, North Lanarkshire, on November 4, 1998 by stabbing him.

She told prosecutor Alex Prentice QC that hours after her brother was cleared of murdering Mr Chhokar in 1999 he came to her home in Overtown.

At the High Court in Glasgow on Tuesday, Mr Prentice asked her: "Why was he there?" Mrs Chisholm replied: "Because he'd just been found not guilty. He was sitting on the floor in the living room leaning against a radiator."

The prosecutor then asked: "What did he say?" She replied: "He said, 'I've just got away with the perfect murder.'"

Mrs Chisholm also told the court that her brother said: "He took one off me, so I took one off him." She said she believed this was a reference to God and the fact that Coulter had a baby girl who was stillborn.

Mr Prentice also asked her about a visit she made to her brother in HMP Barlinnie while he was on remand for murder in 1998 or 1999.

He asked if she had asked him anything and Mrs Chisholm replied: "If he done it. If it was him that done Chhokar." She told the court her brother never said yes or no to her question.

Mr Prentice showed her a transcript for the murder trial of her son Andrew Coulter in 2000 in which she said her brother told her he had stabbed Mr Chhokar.

He then asked: "Did you tell the truth on oath when you gave evidence in that trial?" She answered: "Yes."

Mrs Chisholm told the jurors Coulter phoned her from prison while he was on remand and asked her to search for a tammy hat with a knife wrapped inside it on the old railway line between Overtown and Gowkthrapple.

She said: "I went with my daughter Rona and my son Andrew, but with no intentions of finding them. It was freezing. We took the dog for a walk."

Mrs Chisholm claimed in an earlier phone call her brother asked her to go to Wishaw market, along with his former girlfriend Alexandra Tierney, and purchase a box of knives.

She was asked what she was to do with the box of knives and replied: "Take the smallest one out and put it in Ronnie's cutlery drawer."

The court was told she never did this, but kept the box of knives.

The jury has heard that Coulter, his nephew Andrew Coulter and David Montgomery went to Mr Chhokar's home at Garrion Street, Overtown, around 11.30pm to speak to him about a Giro cheque which had allegedly been stolen from him.

Ronnie Coulter was tried for Mr Chhokar's murder in 1999 and cleared and the other two men were tried in 2000 and cleared.

He has lodged a special defence to the murder charge blaming his nephew Andrew Coulter and David Montgomery.

Both men have given evidence in which they deny having anything to do with the killing of Mr Chhokar. Ronnie Coulter denies all the charges against him.

The trial before judge Lord Matthews continues.