Wishaw man jailed for killing friend in 'brutal' street attack
A Wishaw man who killed his pal by kicking, punching and stamping on his head has been jailed for eight years.
A Wishaw man who killed his pal by kicking, punching and stamping on his head has been jailed for eight years.
George McDonald, 45, brutally assaulted Kevin Holmes in a lane off Main Street in Wishaw, Lanarkshire, on March 22 2016.
McDonald, who was originally accused of murder, killed Kevin after inflicting a number of debilitating blows on his body.
He pleaded guilty to a charge of culpable homicide in February 2017 at the High Court in Livingston before judge Lord Woolman. Sentence had been deferred for the court to obtain reports about McDonald's character.
On Wednesday, at the High Court in Edinburgh, Lord Woolman told McDonald that he had no other option but to send him to prison.
He said: "No sentence I can impose can turn back the clock. By taking another man's life you have significantly escalated your level of offending. Your criminal record includes convictions for violence.
"Exercising what leniency I can, I sentence you to a period of 8 years imprisonment."
McDonald, also of Wishaw, Lanarkshire, admitted that he had killed Kevin - known as Keek - on the fourth day of his trial for murder.
His not guilty plea to assaulting another male called Brian Watson, a man he had tried to blame for the murder, was accepted by the Crown.
Prosecution lawyer Bill McVicar revealed that McDonald had a list of previous convictions, including assaults to severe injury and permanent disfigurement, for which he had served prison sentences.
During the trial, McDonald was heard telling detectives that he had got Kevin's blood on his shoes and clothing when he stepped over him as he passed through the lane.
But CCTV evidence showed that he had not walked into the lane from Main Street as he claimed, and he was stopped by police leaving the back of the lane minutes after Kevin was attacked.
A forensic expert said that the pattern on the soles of McDonald's Adidas trainers matched a bruise mark on Kevin's face.
The jury heard that Kevin's heart stopped for 45 minutes as he was being rushed to hospital after he choked on his own vomit following the attack.
Dr Marjorie Turner, 54, a consultant forensic pathologist at the University of Glasgow, said the blunt force trauma to Kevin's head started a chain of events which led to Kevin, 47, suffering irreparable brain damage.
She told the jury: "It only takes a small number of minutes of cardiac arrest for the brain to be starved of oxygen and irreparably damaged."
She revealed that a bruise on the left side of Kevin's head had a "distinctive pattern" seen most frequently when the injury was caused by a kick or a blow from patterned footwear.
On Wednesday, defence advocate Ronnie Renucci told the court that his client had expressed "empathy" and "remorse" for his victim.
Mr Renucci also said that McDonald - who was on remand - had started seeking spiritual advice from a prison chaplin.
He added: "Mr McDonald has started going to church and he is taking guidance from the chaplin."
Passing sentence, Lord Woolman also said: "It is difficult to know what prompted the attack, especially as you claim that Mr Holmes was your friend.
"Your account of the events on that night differs widely from that of Mr Watson who gave evidence at the trial.
"In advance of the trial you lodged a notice of incrimination. You maintained that Mr Watson had committed the crime. The forensic evidence showed, however, that the sole of your footwear corresponded with a print on the face of the deceased and that his blood was on your clothing."