Fresh off the Press

Here's another Fress off the Press release describing the ghoulish stabbing by an ADD-afflicted youth and his sentencing. Enjoy...
Courtesy of Telegraph.co.uk

Teenage killer jailed for five years
A teenager who stabbed a student to death in an unprovoked attack has been jailed for five years.


By Auslan Cramb, Scottish Correspondent
Last Updated: 9:24PM GMT 30 Oct 2008

Christopher Johnston, 17, was stabbed in the leg moments after his best friend had been attacked by the same 14-year-old youth.

The killer was drunk at the time and had left his home armed with a knife.

Lord Matthews, at the High Court in Edinburgh, told the youth that the use of knives had caused "countless families to mourn over the years".

He added: "Nothing the courts have been able to do has brought any of the victims back nor, I suppose, provided any form of solace for those left behind."

The judge said the killer, who is now 15 and cannot be named for legal reasons, was very young and had "a number of difficulties not of his own making".

He ordered that he should be detained for five years and kept under supervision for a further five years when he is released.

The judge expressed his admiration for the family of the victim after reading reports that Christopher's father Jim Johnston, 51, said he did not hate his son's killer but hated what he had done.

Lord Matthews said it was a "tragic and unusual case" and the death was the unforeseen consequence of a stab wound to the victim's leg.

Outside the court Mr Johnston said the sentence was "at the very lowest end of the scale".

He added: "Christopher would have been 18 next week. This boy will be released on, or about, his 18th birthday. He will be able to celebrate his 18th birthday. We will be sitting a week on Sunday without Christopher."

The victim's aunt, Anne Marie McGuire, said: "His future is in his own hands. He has robbed us of Christopher and he has robbed Christopher of his future."

The youth, who has attention deficit disorder, was originally charged with murdering Christopher at a lane near Pentland Drive, Bishopbriggs, Glasgow, on January 26 this year.

But during an earlier trial the Crown accepted his guilty plea to a reduced charge of culpable homicide.

He admitted assaulting Christopher near his home, pushing him against a fence, holding a knife to his throat and stabbing and killing him. His parents found him dying in the street.

The Glasgow College of Commerce student was taken to hospital but died an hour later after suffering massive blood loss.

The killer, who claimed he had drunk eight pints and two vodkas in a pub, was caught in a nearby street with a bloodstained knife in his sleeve.

He also admitted assaulting Christopher's friend, 17-year-old Keni Carmichael.

Neil Murray QC, defending, said his client had problems articulating his feelings and that led to frustration and a loss of temper.

He added: "I can provide no explanation for what happened. Drink may provide an explanation and the boy's background may provide an explanation, but neither of these factors is given as an excuse for what happened."

Mr Murray said the youth, from Bishopbriggs, had expressed regret for his actions.

Lord Matthews called for an investigation into claims that the teenager was allowed to drink in licensed premises.