Man cleared of murdering partygoer at Glasgow pub
A man who killed a partygoer in a Glasgow pub flat bloodbath was dramatically cleared of murder today.
A man who killed a partygoer in a Glasgow pub flat bloodbath was dramatically cleared of murder today.
There were angry scenes at the High Court in Livingston as the jury returned unanimous verdicts finding Sean McLauchlan, 25, not guilty of murder and assault.
Furious relatives and friends of the deceased Scott Gillies - described by his family as a "gentle giant" - stormed from court with one woman shouting: This is what you call justice?"
During the trial McLauchlan admitted knifing Scott to death after an all-night drink and drugs binge.
But he claimed he had acted in self-defence after Scott, 29, threatened to "stab ***" out of him and ran towards him with an open razor in one hand and a flick knife in the other.
McLachlan, who had already been slashed on the face in an earlier confrontation, armed himself with two kitchen knifes and went out to the hallway in a bid to escape from the flat above the Dolphin bar in Glasgow's West End..
The pair slashed at each other, spattering the floor and walls of the hallway with their blood before McLachlan, with blood running down his face from a scalp wound, delivered the fatal blow.
He plunged an eight-inch kitchen knife up to the hilt in Scott's left shoulder slicing through a major artery in his lungs, before running from the building in Benalder Street, Partick.
The knife handle broke off and the blade buckled as it shattered a fragment of bone and ripped through Scott's chest.
A post mortem found that the 6' 3" doting uncle lost a fifth of the blood circulating in his body. He would have collapsed and died within minutes.
The jury heard that Scott had a blood/alcohol count almost six times the drink drive limit at the time of his death and had taken ecstasy.
The jury heard that Scott and his girlfriend Cheryl Dawson had been thrown out of the party just before 8am on 16 May 2015 because he had allegedly made offensive comments to the host and her sister.
He had earlier shown other guests an open razor and a flick knife which he had taken out with him that evening. The couple kept trying to get back in to the party and clashed aggressively with females there after kicking the door of the flat in three times.
The third time McLachlan went out past the girls onto the landing and got involved in a fist fight with Scott until he got slashed on the top lip.
He gave evidence that he ran back inside and was staunching the bleeding wound in the kitchen when he heard the door being kicked in for a fourth time.
He said: "I was scared, terrified. Then I heard Scott saying: 'Get Sean out here. He's going to get stabbed **** out of!' and 'Where is he? He's getting done.'
"He was talking about me. I was terrified. That's when I turned around and grabbed two knives from the sink." He added: "The minute I stepped out the kitchen I seen Scott Gillies coming up the hall.
"Scott ran towards me. He had a knife in each hand and he struck us on the head. The blood started to run into my eyes and onto my face from my head.
"At that point I was just scared for my own life. I thought I was going to be killed.
"I swung back to try and get him off us. I was swinging my hands to get him away from us."
He said he ran from the scene when Scott fell and dropped the knife outside. Minutes later he asked a man arriving for work at a nearby building site to phone the police.
During the trial, a guest at the party gave evidence about a ten-hour booze binge at the house party leading up to Scott's violent death.
He said: "We were all taking drugs. I was taking cocaine and ecstasy. I'd say Scott was really drunk at that point.
"Cheryl (Dawson, who was with Scott) was off her face; highly, highly intoxicated. Sean was drunk as well.
"I could hear Scott say: 'Where the fuck is he? He's going to get done in'.
"He was coming down the hall swearing. I was in the kitchen with Sean.
"He (Sean) was at the sink. He grabbed two knives from a wooden knife block.
"Sean took himself out to the hall. I went to grab him but they both met in the middle of the hall.
"I didn't want anything bad to happen but he got out in the hall. I knew Scott was armed with knives and now he (Sean) was armed with knives.
"I was, like, something really serious is going to happen."
Another witness, said everyone in the kitchen was trying to stop McLauchlan going out to the hall with the knives.
She said: "I felt sick. I felt horrible. I knew something bad was going to happen. Everyone was scared."
She said she heard banging noises then Cheryl Dawson walked in looking "shaken up" and shouting that Scott was dying.
She went on: "Then Scott walked in. He looked pretty grey. He just looked really shocked.
"He kind of leaned against the table. He didn't say anything. He fell to the floor then he made like a gurgling noise."
Judge Lord Burns formally acquitted McLachlan, who was led out a back door into the arms of his step mum. Scott's father Conrad Gillies declined to comment.