Top judge pleads with men to stop carrying knives after Larkhall attack

A judge has pleaded with men to stop carrying knives - as she jailed a dad for the attempted murder of a man in Larkhall earlier this year.

Colin Mair attacked Ethan Allan in March.

The 20 year-old was stabbed three times in the back following a house party.

A jury heard how Mr Allan's next memory was waking up in a hospital bed.

30 year-old Mair was convicted of attempted murder and having a blade following a trial at the High Court in Glasgow.

Lady Rae jailed him for a total of eight years.

Moments earlier, the judge asked Mair about men like him arming themselves with knives – and he shrugged his shoulders.

Lady Rae went on: “Is that your response? You have been convicted of stabbing another young man several times.

“You are lucky you are not on a murder charge.”

The trial was told Mr Allan may have died had his injuries not been treated.

Mair, of Blantyre, Lanarkshire, had denied having a weapon.

But, jurors heard he told a friend: “I stabbed a man in Larkhall.”

Mair had two pending court cases at the time – including a breach of a community payback order.

Billy Lavelle, defending, said the crime was a “massive step up” from Mair's previous offending.

Lady Rae told jurors after the verdict: “Until young men stop carrying knives, you are going to see more and more of these cases.