A Turkish immigrant accused of murdering his estranged wife wiped tears from his eyes as he denied killing her - claiming she "battered" him on the day she died.

Erhan Havaleoglu denies murdering Leighanne Cameron at her home in Calder House Road, Mid Calder, near Livingston, West Lothian, on October 28 last year.

Prosecutors claim he inflicted blunt force trauma to her head and body and throttled her, "all by means to the prosecutor unknown", hitting her on the head with an unknown object and repeatedly striking her on the head and body with a knife or similar implement.

Appearing in the dock at Paisley Sheriff Court on Friday, he denied killing her and told the jury in his murder trial that she was in fact the aggressor on the night she died.

He said: "I'd basically had an argument with my wife - basically she battered me."

The 36-year-old said he had split up with Ms Cameron, 29, in May 2015 and had moved out of the home they shared with their two children.

On the night she died he was at her house as he had been watching their kids while she was at work, he said.

Havaleoglu told the court that once Ms Cameron got back from work, they began arguing about their four-year-old daughter's behaviour.

He told his defence counsel Ian Duguid QC that the child had been telling "lies" and that he believed it was caused by the fact he had cheated on Ms Cameron and walked out on her.

He said they had "general chit-chat" and then she told him to leave as she had had a terrible day at work.

Havaleoglu told the court he asked if they could speak about their daughter.

He said: "I said, 'Erin needs to see someone special - it's my fault'.

"All she said was, 'just give her time'."

Havaleoglu, who served in the Turkish Army before moving to Scotland in 2003, said he then asked Ms Cameron to put the heating on and she attacked him.

He claimed she became "really, really aggressive", adding: "She hit me on my testicles with her knee, I was trying to go backwards and I tripped on a door stop.

"I lost my balance and ended up falling on the floor in the middle of the living room.

"Leighanne came behind me and kicked me on the back.

"I lifted my hand and she kicked my hand and then lost her balance and fell on me.

"She landed on my knee and then started biting my knee.

"It was really, really sore, I was pulling and pushing her.

"The door was knocked and she stopped, I pushed her away from me.

"I said, 'what the f*** are you doing and then Philip Kilkenny came in."

The court previously heard that Mr Kilkenny and Ms Cameron had been in a relationship since November 2014 but kept their affair a secret, referring to each other as Craig and Rebecca, so their spouses did not find out.

Havaleoglu said: "Apart from her mouth bleeding [following the fight] she was fine - she was still shouting at me, calling me every name, saying it's my fault.

"She was alive. I moved the kids' car seats from my car into her car and put the buggy in the boot. I then went back to Blackburn to the homeless unit."

Havaleoglu said he was arrested for an assault on Ms Cameron and only found out she had died when his lawyer told him he was being charged with murder before he was about to be interviewed by police.

He wiped tears from his eyes as QC Ian Duguid asked: "Did you kill your wife?"

Havaleoglu replied: "No. I'd basically had an argument with my wife - basically she battered me."

Havaleoglu has entered special defences of self-defence and incrimination to the murder charge - claiming he acted in self-defence when Ms Cameron attacked him and that Mr Kilkenny murdered her.

Mr Kilkenny, 42, gave evidence earlier this week, denying he murdered Leighanne and saying he found her lying dead on the floor.

He sobbed as he explained: "She was lying on her front facing the door.

"There was a lot of blood all around her. Her glasses were in her right hand.

"I just screamed out her name a few times.

"I seen the blood, I just went for the phone and phoned the ambulance."

He then phoned 999 and said: "I think it's her ex-husband. He told her she'd never get to love another man."

The trial, before Temporary Judge Johanna Johnston QC, continues at the High Court in Paisley.