SENTENCING STATEMENTS

On sentencing, Lord Fairley said:

"Raymond Platt

Raymond Platt, you have been found guilty by the jury of murdering Anthony Ferns on the night of 18 April 2019 by stabbing him. The single fatal blow was inflicted by you with severe force to the area of Mr Fern’s heart.  

The Crown case was that the attack on Mr Ferns was pre-planned, and carried out with the intention of killing him. Having regard to the nature of the fatal injury and the force used to inflict it, the conclusion that Mr Ferns was murdered was inevitable. The circumstantial evidence of your movements before, during and after the time of the attack similarly left no reasonable doubt that you were the person who carried out that murder. This was not, as is sometimes seen in these courts, a fight that got out of hand. This was a targeted and premeditated assassination. The punishment part of the sentence that I am about to impose will reflect that.

You have an appalling record for violence involving the carrying and use of knives. It includes a conviction in 2000 for culpable homicide for which you were sentenced to 14 years in prison. Having been released from that sentence, you soon committed further offences of violence – at least one of which involved the use of a knife – for which you were convicted of assault to severe injury with a danger to life and attempted murder. For those offences you received a total extended sentence of 12 years comprising a custodial period of 9 years and an extended period of supervision of 3 years. You were still subject to that sentence when you murdered Mr Ferns.

As is all too apparent from the statement produced by Mr Fern’s mother, no sentence that I impose today is likely to heal the grief felt by his family at his death and the violent manner of it.

The penalty for the crime of murder is fixed by law and is imprisonment for life. I am required, however, to set what is known as the punishment part, which is the minimum period that you must serve in prison before you are eligible to be considered by the Parole Board for release. Whether you are released at that point will be for the Board to determine. It is quite clear, however, that neither of the previous sentences imposed upon you had any deterrent effect upon your propensity, when at liberty, to use knives to inflict potentially lethal violence. It is perfectly possible, therefore, that you will never be released but that will be for others to decide.

Mr Ross has invited me to backdate your sentence today to take account of the period you have spent on remand since 15 September 2023. I have also taken account, however, of the fact that when you committed this latest offence you remained subject to an unexpired portion of around 5 years in respect of your conviction for attempted murder in 2013. For that reason, I do not consider that the sentence I impose today should be backdated. I will, however, make no order in respect of the unexpired portion of the earlier sentence.

Having regard the nature of this latest offence, and the very significant aggravating factor of your record, the punishment part in your case will be 23 years from today.

Craig Colquhoun

Mr Colquhoun, by its verdict, the jury accepted that you were party to and participated in the plan to murder Mr Ferns. Since you have been found to have played a material part in carrying out that plan, you are equally responsible in law for its consequences. The evidence showed that you were the driver of the Audi Q2 that tracked the movements of Mr Ferns on the night of 18 April 2019 before you transported Mr Platt to and from the scene of the murder.

You also have a record which includes offences of violence, but almost all of your convictions in Scotland have been at summary level. I note, however, that in 2012 you were convicted on indictment of an assault to severe injury involving the use of a weapon, and were sentenced to 20 months imprisonment.

The record provided to me also discloses an offence in England from which you were released on licence on 26 July 2016. The end of the licence period was 26 June 2019. It follows, as has been accepted on your behalf, that you were still on licence at the date of this offence. That is an aggravating factor. I note that you were returned to prison on a recall order in June of 2019 for a short period in respect of that matter. I also note that you have been separately remanded on this matter since 2023.

In your case, having regard to your significant but more limited record and the aggravation of your being on licence, the punishment part will be of 20 years and I will backdate that to the date of your remand on 15 September 2023.

Robert Park

Mr Park, you have a more limited record. Your only conviction for violence was in 1983 and did not result in custody. In 1995, however, you received a High Court sentence of 6 years imprisonment for being concerned in the supplying of drugs.

There are some differences in your record and other personal circumstances between you Mr Colquhoun. You were not on licence or early release, and your record is historical. You are also substantially older than Mr Colquhoun. On the other hand, I take account of the jury’s acceptance of the evidence that you showed prior malice to Mr Ferns and were the instigator of the murder. Balancing all of these factors, I see no reason to distinguish between you and Mr Colquhoun in the selection of the appropriate punishment part. In your case, therefore the punishment part will also be set at 20 years. As you have been on bail throughout, that will run from today.  

Joseph McCulloch 

You were also party to and participated in the plan to murder Mr Ferns. Since you have been found to have played a material part in carrying out that plan, you too are equally responsible in law for its consequences. The jury has accepted that you were – as the Crown suggested – instrumental in facilitating it, even though you were not personally present when the murder took place.

You were not on licence at the time of this offence. Your record is lengthier than that of Mr Park, but unlike any of your co-accused, you have never previously served a custodial sentence. You have one previous conviction for violence in 2009 which resulted in a community order.

In common with Mr Park, however, you have been found to have shown prior malice towards Mr Ferns. On the evidence against you, that is a reference only to the incident which was formerly charge 3 on the indictment.

In your case, and having regard to the differences in your circumstances from those of your co-accused, particularly Mr Colquhoun and Mr Park, the punishment part will be 18 years. As you have been on bail throughout, that sentence will run from today."