Man admits trying to kill partygoer dressed as a scarecrow
32 year old Graham McKinlay tried to kill Thomas Brennan on Glasgow's Union Street last June.
A man launched an unprovoked attack on a partygoer dressed as a scarecrow stabbing him 14 times, a court was told. At the High Court in Glasgow 32-year-old Graham McKinlay admitted attempting to murder Thomas Brennan in Glasgow city centre on June 12, last year. The court was told that Mr Brennan, 28, and his fiancee Bianca McLachlan had been at a fancy dress party and were heading along Union Street towards a nightclub, still dressed in their costumes. Mr Brennan, who was dressed as a scarecrow, had a potato sack over his head with holes cut out for the eyes and a piece of rope round his neck. Prosecutor Shirley McKenna said: “As the accused neared he took hold of the rope round Mr Brennan's neck and pulled on it. This had the effect that Mr Brennan could no longer see.” The court heard that McKinlay punched Mr Brennan three or four times on the head. He got him in a headlock and then began to repeatedly strike Mr Brennan on the head and body with a knife or car key he had in his hand. Miss McKenna said: “Mr Brennan, terrified for his safety, began to fight back and at one point he and the accused were on the ground.” During the attack by McKinlay, two woman also became involved. Natalie Graham, 31, a first offender, punched Mr Brennan on the head two or three times and kicked him on the legs. Mr Brennan punched her and her friend Stacey Lavery, 27, rushed up shouting 'he hit my pal' and hit him twice on the head. In court McKinlay admitted attempting to murder Mr Brennan and the two women pleaded guilty to assault. They both said they did not realise that McKinlay had a knife. McKinlay also admitted shouting racist comments at Safdar Ali , 29, and slashing him on the face with a knife in St Enoch's Square, Glasgow, on December 10, 2014. He also pleaded guilty to slashing Richard McCluskey, 32, on a bus travelling along Dumbarton Road, Glasgow, on December 6, 2014. Judge Lord Boyd deferred sentence on all three until June 22 at the High Court in Edinburgh. McKinlay is in custody and the two women were granted bail.