The declaration has been made in a charge against accused man Scott Rooney — who appeared in court on the matter yesterday afternoon.

Rooney, 19, is said to have attacked 56-year-old Mr Mearns, pictured, within the graveyard’s grounds.

The charge against Rooney alleges that he used a brick or similar implement to strike Mr Mearns on the head and murder him on 30 July.

Mr Mearns was rushed to Inverclyde Royal Hospital after being found seriously injured. But medics were unable to save his life and he died the next day.

The Telegraph revealed on Wednesday that Police Scotland’s Major Investigations team — who declared the matter a murder inquiry on 1 August — had made an arrest in the case. The move came after an intensive probe which involved a 40-strong team of officers speaking to more than 2,000 people in huge ‘stop and question’ operations in the wake of Mr Mearns’ death. Detectives also pored over hours of CCTV footage of the immediate vicinity of the cemetery.

A number of leads from that exercise led to appeals for particular witnesses to come forward with information to assist the investigation.

The last confirmed sighting of Greenock man Mr Mearns had been at around 11.30am on the morning of 30 July when he visited his local shop in Roxburgh Street.

Accused Rooney, of East Street, Port Glasgow, appeared for a brief hearing in private before Sheriff Derek Hamilton. He made no plea or declaration to the murder charge through his lawyer Aidan Gallagher and the case was continued for further examination. Rooney was remanded in custody and is due back in court on the matter next week.