A woman has told a murder trial how her partner died in front of her after three men dragged him across the street as he got home from work in 1998.

Elizabeth Bryce, 56, was giving evidence at the trial of Ronnie Coulter, who denies murdering Surjit Singh Chhokar in Garrion Street, Overtown, North Lanarkshire, on November 4, 1998.

Coulter, 48, has lodged a special defence blaming his nephew Andrew Coulter and David Montgomery.

She told the jury Mr Chhokar told her: "They have stabbed me."

Ms Bryce told the High Court in Glasgow she was in a relationship with Mr Chhokar, who she called Chhokar, and he often stayed at her home in Garrion Street, although he had his own flat at Caplaw Tower in nearby Gowkthrapple.

The jury was told Mr Chhokar drove up in his blue Ford Orion and parked outside her front window.

Ms Bryce said: "The car stopped and he got out. He had a bottle of Irn Bru in one hand and his meal in a plastic bag and the other."

She said she was looking out the window and saw him hold up the takeaway meal and juice to show her.

Ms Bryce told the court: "He started walking down to my gate and then I heard a kind of noise."

The jurors were told at this point Mr Chhokar was out of sight.

When she next saw him, Ronnie Coulter and David Montgomery had one arm each and were dragging him across the street and Andrew Coulter was walking in front, the court heard.

Ms Bryce told the trial she grabbed a garden spade from a cupboard and ran outside.

She added: "Because they still had a hold of Chhokar I shouted and David Montgomery ran away."

Prosecutor Alex Prentice QC said: "What happened next?"

She replied: "I shouted at Ronnie and Andrew. I shouted 'Ronnie, Andrew I'm getting the f*****g polis for you' and they stopped and looked at me and then they went away."

Ms Bryce went on: "Chhokar started walking across the road and that's when I met him. He said: 'They have stabbed me."

She said that he walked up to his car and leaned against it with his head in his hands. She said she could see no blood.

She continued with tears in her eyes and her voice breaking: "The next thing I know is there was a horrible noise and the blood just flew out of him and he just flopped down and fell on the ground.

"I just couldn't believe it. He was just lying there. I was angry, confused. I wanted to do something, but there was nothing I could do."

Ms Bryce was asked by Mr Prentice: "Did you try to hit anyone with the spade," and she replied: "No, but if I'd got my hands on them I would have."

Mr Prentice then said: "Was Chhokar still alive," and she replied: "No, no he was dead."

Earlier in evidence she told prosecutor Mr Prentice that morning Mr Chhokar, who worked in the Pink Turban restaurant in Wishaw but also claimed benefits, had gone to his flat to collect a Giro cheque and discovered the door was kicked in and there no sign of his Giro. The court heard the Giro was for just over £100.

Ms Bryce said: "He told me he had phoned the post office in Overtown and was told it had been cashed by Andrew Coulter."

Ms Bryce, who works in a takeaway restaurant answering phone calls, told the court she was angry about the missing Giro and spoke twice to Andrew Coulter's mother Margaret Chisholm that day.

On the second occasion she said Andrew Coulter was also there.

When asked by Mr Prentice what she had said, she replied: "I just told her that Andrew had cashed Chhokar's cheque and said there would probably be consequences."

Mr Prentice then asked: "What did you meant by that?"

She replied: "He would have got into trouble for it."

She said that Andrew Coulter told her: "If anything happens to me Chhokar is getting it."

The trial before judge Lord Matthews continues.