The widow of a Scots oil worker killed when a passenger plane was blown out of the sky has told a court of her heartbreak since his tragic death.
Stephen Anderson was travelling to his new home in Malaysia when he boarded the doomed jet.
The flight – from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur – is believed to have been shot down in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, about 30 miles from the border with Russia, by suspected Russian separatists.
His widow, Joanna, spoke about the impact of Stephen’s death during the trial of four men accused of murdering the 289 passengers and crew aboard the Malaysian Airlines flight in 2014.
She told a Dutch court she wants someone to take responsibility for the atrocity and added: “I have to continue with my life based on their actions. I don’t really live any more, I merely exist.”
Her statement was read out by a friend as Joanna was unable to be in court.
It read: “I didn’t deserve this, Steve didn’t deserve this. Grief doesn’t just involve the loss of the person, but also the loss of those daily routines and rituals.”
Joanna, who is back living in Scotland, said her husband’s laptop – which had precious family photos on it – was stolen from the crash site. She hit out at those who took it, saying: “These people are no better than grave-robbers.”
The court heard that Stephen, who grew up in Inverness, was an RAF serviceman and had served at the forces base in Lossiemouth for 10 years.
He then got a job with energy firm Maersk and was working for them at the time of the tragedy.
Joanna has criticised Maersk, claiming they stopped paying for therapy she was receiving in 2015 and took payment on an insurance claim for his belongings without telling her.
She also said she was left without a home when on her return to Scotland following Stephen’s death.
Three Russian men – Igor Girkin, Sergei Dubinsky and Oleg Pulatov – are on trial along with a Ukrainian, Leonid Kharchenko.
The hearings are taking place in front of a district court of The Hague, with evidence heard at a secure facility near Schiphol Airport.
The trial has been running since March 2020 and has faced several delays.
It is not expected to reach a verdict until late 2022.
The Netherlands took on the prosecution as almost 200 victims were Dutch.
It is alleged the four suspects supplied the Buk surface-to-air missile that prosecutors say shot down the Boeing 777 on July 17, 2014.
An international investigation team believe the shot was fired from a separatist-held territory in eastern Ukraine.
The region was experiencing high tensions just months after Russia annexed Crimea.
Stephen, who has a daughter, Jordan, from a previous relationship, was one of 10 UK nationals on board.
His father, Leslie, has previously said he fears he will never see justice done.
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