10 Year Jail Term For Knife Thug

A violent thug who killed his lifelong friend by knifing him through the heart after a row has been jailed for 10 years.

Jamie Wishart, 22, was found guilty of culpable homicide by stabbing Connor Cleave, 17, once in Methilhill, in April last year.

The brutal street knife attack was witnessed by members of Connor's family and his mother Susan Seath, 43, cradled him in her arms as he lay dying.

Wishart was originally accused of murdering Mr Cleave, but a jury convicted him of the lesser charge of culpable homicide.

Yesterday at the High Court in Glasgow judge Lady Scott toldWishart: "You have been convicted of the culpable homicide of Connor Cleave a 17-year-old man who was also your friend.

"This is a perfect example of the tragic and fatal consequences of the use of knives by young men."

The trial heard that Connor and Wishart had a row and Wishart ran off to get a knife.

He then returned and plunged it into Connor - stabbing him through the heart.

Lady Scott said the killing was witnessed by Connor's siblings and added: "He died at the scene in his mother's arms. The Cleeve family have been left devastated."

During a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh Ms Seath, 43, wept as she told the jury she arrived at the scene of the stabbing just before Connor took his final breath.

She said she saw a "big hole" in her son's chest as he lay in the street with serious injuries.

The jury heard she ran to the crime scene in Simon Crescent after a friend told her Mr Cleave had been stabbed.

Ms Seath said: "He only took one more breath when I got there."

She said a police office had lifted up her son's top to see his injuries.

"He pulled up Connor's top and you could see the big hole in his chest. That's when he started radioing and going mental," she said.

Another witness, Ashley Johnson, 24, told the court that she saw Wishart sticking "something shiny" into Connor's body.

Defence solicitor advocate Gordon Markie said: "Mr Wishart says he intends to try and turn his life around. Prior to this incident he had been drinking and taking Valium. He requires to address that problem.

"He is remorseful for what he did."