SENTENCING STATEMENTS

On sentencing, Lady Drummond said:

"You were convicted by the jury of murdering Mr Mark Ward.

The circumstances were that you and Mr Ward had never met before. On 6 April 2022 you were under the influence of drugs when you came across Mr Ward who was a taxi driver.  He was standing beside an electric car charge point charging his taxi. You asked him for a cigarette and when he refused you struggled with him, and pushed him, causing him to fall down a steep grassy slope. He landed on the roadway striking his head. You then repeatedly kicked or stamped on his head as he lay there on the road. You immediately walked away without stopping or showing any concern.

Mr Ward suffered a traumatic head injury and was so severely injured that from April 2022 he was fully dependent on 24 hour care and had to be fed through a tube. You were on 5 bail orders at the time of this offence.

You pled guilty to assault to severe injury, permanent impairment, permanent disfigurement and danger to life as a result of your actions. On 9 January 2023 you were sentenced to 5 years and 4 months imprisonment, reduced from 8 years to reflect the stage at which you pled guilty.

Almost exactly a year after you committed the offence, on 5 April 2023, Mr Ward died as a consequence of the injuries you inflicted on him.

You were then prosecuted and convicted by a jury of murder. By their verdict the jury rejected your position that you were guilty of culpable homicide only.

I have read the victim impact statement from Mr Ward’s sister and brother in law. They describe him as a much loved, highly intelligent, social and family man. He had been in employment all his life and a taxi driver for the last 20 years. The impact of the severe injuries you inflicted left him fully dependent on others for his care. Those injuries and his subsequent death had a devastating impact on his parents, sisters, brothers in law, nieces and wider family. They have been left in shock, enduring distress and with deep loss.   

I have read the criminal justice and social work report and take into account your circumstances and background described there. You experienced adverse childhood circumstances and began using drugs from an early age. You are aged 47. You were previously married and have two children. You have been unemployed for the last 25 years although some of that was due to ill health. You have had mental health issues, some following an assault, as well as continuing drug misuse. I’ve taken into account all that has been said on your behalf by Mr Paterson this morning too.

You have a long criminal record dating from 1993 to 2022. Your record of offending began when you were 13, coming before the courts aged 16 and continued unabated over 34 years.  You have been offered many community disposals but have continually failed to engage and make long term change. Your offending has persisted despite repeated custodial sentences. Most of your offending has been drug related but you have previous convictions for assault and assault to injury albeit at summary level. Your offending has been increasing in seriousness and frequency. The author of the criminal justice and social work report assesses you as a very high risk of re-offending. He describes you as having shown no meaningful remorse for your actions.

The punishment for murder is fixed by law. You will be sentenced to life imprisonment.

I am obliged to fix a period of time which you must serve in custody before being considered for parole. In fixing this period, known as the punishment part, I must reflect the need to punish you for the crime of murder and to deter you and others from committing murder. In fixing the punishment part, the law requires me to ignore the risk that you may pose to the public in the future.

This was a senseless, violent, unprovoked attack on Mr Ward, who was a stranger to you. You began by pushing him down a steep embankment causing him to hit his head off the road. You continued in your attack by repeatedly kicking or stamping him to the head when he was lying defenceless on the ground, walking off and leaving him to his fate.

Having regard to the whole circumstances, the punishment part will be one of 16 years (6 months of that to reflect that you were on 5 bail orders at the time). That is backdated to 7 April 2022 when you were first on remand.

This does not mean that this is a sentence of 16 years. You are sentenced to life imprisonment and you will serve at least 16 years before you can be considered for release on parole. It will be for the Parole Board to decide when you will ultimately be released and they will have regard to the safety of the public in reaching that decision.

I quash your previous conviction for assault dated 9 December 2022 under section 11(5) of the Double Jeopardy (Scotland) Act 2011 having been satisfied that it is appropriate to do so. Your previous conviction for assault has been superseded by the murder conviction and should no longer stand."