Teenager convicted of frenzied kitchen knife murder bid

Livingston High Court heard the murder bid was carried out at a house in Plains in December 2016

A 16-year-old schoolboy has been convicted of attempting to murder a man by stabbing him nearly 30 times with a kitchen knife in a frenzied attack.

The Bellshill youth claimed John Higgins, 38, attacked him first after an argument over a Loyalist song.

The teenager claimed he acted in self-defence because he thought Mr Higgins was going to kill his co-accused.

A court heard he carried out the murder bid at a house in Plains, North Lanarkshire, in December 2016.

A jury at the High Court in Livingston also convicted him of assaulting the victim's nephew, Patrick McCluskey, and stabbing Mr McCluskey's then girlfriend, Erin Rodger, in the thigh after they went to his aid.

Solely responsible

The teenager's co-accused, Steven Elliott, 22, was cleared of attempted murder.

But the former soldier was found guilty of a reduced charge of assaulting Mr Higgins to his severe injury, permanent disfigurement and to the danger of his life by repeatedly punching and kicking him on the head and body.

He was also convicted of assaulting Mr McCluskey but was cleared of the knife attack on Miss Rodger.

During the trial, the teenager accepted he was solely responsible for inflicting four deep knife wounds in Mr Higgins' back and a further 23 injuries on his legs.

Steven Elliot, who spent four years serving in the Scots Guards, insisted throughout the trial that he did not have a knife at any stage.

Jaw 'caved in'

Mr Higgins told how he was "stabbed from head to toe" after being invited into Elliott's house to have a can of beer.

He was stabbed three times in the back and suffered 24 knife wounds to his legs arms and feet, leaving him crippled.

He said his jaw was "caved in" as a result of the ferocious attack and he had to have metal plates screwed in to rebuild it.

Mr Higgins said he was unable to recall what his attackers looked like because he had been drinking heavily before the attack.

But he told the jury: "I'm sure one of them had a Rangers top on. It was a red football top."

The jury watched dramatic CCTV footage of the running street battle outside Elliott's house several times during the seven-day trial.

Judge Lord Beckett said the law did not allow him to sentence the two accused without first calling for background reports.

Both were remanded in custody and the case was adjourned until 27 March for sentence at the High Court in Glasgow.