Mobile snap murderer jailed for life

A Paisley man who murdered a 24-year-old by stabbing him 80 times with a knife and then "went on to pose for a mobile phone picture alongside the victim's body" has been jailed for at least 15 years, the BBC reports.

Stephen Price, 20, previously admitted murdering 24-year-old Scott Burgess "with a knife in his home in Glen Street, Paisley, between August and September last year". His 17-year-old partner Karen Duncan admitted culpable homicide, while her sister Irene Duncan, 18, "also admitted attempting to defeat the ends of justice by trying to conceal evidence".

Prosecutor Derek Ogg QC told a hearing in January that there was "no motive for the horrific crime, apart from the fact Price believed Mr Burgess had made some derogatory remarks about his friends".

The BBC explained: "Once inside Price locked the front door and launched what Mr Ogg described as 'a frenzied and sustained knife assault' amounting to at least 80 separate blows."

Mr Ogg added: "Mr Burgess collapsed into unconsciousness or death."

He continued: "Price then posed with his body, brandishing his knife and smiling whilst one of the Duncan girls photographed him on a mobile phone camera."

The accused buried their clothing in a black bag along with the "knife, the screwdriver and the mobile phone", and cut up bloodstained carpet and threw it down a rubbish chute.

They then deposited their victim into a bath filled with water and bleach, of which Ogg said: "These acts constituted a thought-out and callous campaign over a number of days. It betrayed gross levels of depravity and indifference to the dignity of the dead man as well as adding to the grief and devastation of his family."

In passing sentence, the judge at the High Court in Glasgow, Lord Brodie, said: "It was an unprovoked attack on an unarmed man in his own home showing gross level of depravity. You are all young and all had difficult backgrounds. You were drinking on the night in question. However, that may explain your behaviour, but provides no excuse."

Lord Brodie told Price: "You planned to assault Scott Burgess in his own flat. Once inside you locked the door and carried out a very long and unprovoked attack and I can see no reason for it whatsoever."

Price's partner, Karen Duncan, was jailed for seven years for culpable homicide, having admitted "twice stabbing Mr Burgess with a screwdriver". Her sister was sentenced to 27 months in a young offenders' institute. The former "will be monitored in the community for three years after her release", while the latter "will be supervised for a year after her release". ®