SENTENCING STATEMENTS

Upon sentencing, Lord Arthurson made the following remarks:

"Please remain seated in the dock until you are directed to stand.

"Kieran Lindsay and Marshall Andrew Strachan, on 7 July 2026 at Glasgow High Court you were convicted after trial of the gravest crime known to the law of Scotland, namely the crime of murder.

"Your victim was Mr John Scott Laughlan Taylor, who was aged 44 when he died at your hands. I have read moving impact statements prepared by members of Mr Taylor’s family, who attended daily at your trial and sat throughout the leading of lengthy and disturbing evidence with a quiet dignity and an admirable restraint. Mr Taylor was a beloved father, son and brother, a generous and thoughtful man whose death has left an unfillable void in the lives of all who knew and loved him.

"The jury concluded on the evidence that both of you on 18 October 2024, at around lunchtime, attended at Mr Taylor’s home in Pollock Crescent, Kilwinning, while you, Mr Strachan, were armed with a bladed weapon and had your face masked, in order to visit violent retribution upon him, being totally indifferent as to whether as a result of that violence he lived or died. The jury in returning its verdicts duly found established that your concerted assault upon him with that bladed weapon amounted to the crime of murder.  

"You travelled together by prior arrangement in a third party’s car, and left the scene in the same vehicle, after you, Mr Strachan, had discarded the murder weapon. You, Mr Lindsay, subsequently that day burnt your clothing on Barassie beach and you, Mr Strachan, shortly after fleeing the scene, burnt incriminating items near a wooded area in Kilwinning. Your conduct together before, during and after this crime was almost a textbook illustration of planned concert in a case of murder.

"As, or very shortly after, Mr Taylor answered his door to you, he was struck with a knife in the stomach, just below the rib cage on the left side of his abdomen. The Crown forensic pathologist described the bladed weapon in question under reference to the wound itself, the weapon having never been recovered, as a knife with a sharp edge which was capable of penetrating, as indeed it did, no less than 23.5cm into Mr Taylor’s body, that is to say a weapon with a minimum blade length of 9 inches. The main damage inflicted by the knife was to the inferior vena cava, the largest vein in the human body. The knife wound ended within the liver, itself a major vascular structure. Mr Taylor died due to the effects of blood loss occasioned by that stab wound to his abdomen, which wound was inflicted by you, Mr Strachan. Neighbours went to his aid. Both of you, however, fled the scene. The court heard a 999 call, timed at 1351 hours on 18 October 2024, in which the following account of Mr Taylor’s injuries was given in real time by one of those assisting him as he lay dying: 'It looks like his intestines are out. His insides are hanging out…I think he’s gone.' Mr Taylor’s life was pronounced extinct at 1426 hours at his home address.

"You are each now aged 21. You were aged 19 as at the date of your crime. You are both first offenders. Background reports have been prepared for this sentencing hearing, which reports are in relatively positive terms, particularly so in respect of you, Mr Strachan, and which offer helpful insights into your challenging upbringings and personal circumstances, as well as your expressed remorse in respect of your involvement in Mr Taylor’s death. I take all of this into account.

"In addition, I take into account the cogent submissions advanced this morning on your behalf by your respective senior counsel in mitigation, and note in particular what has been said regarding the undoubted engagement of the Young Persons Sentencing Guideline in the circumstances of this case; your absence of any criminal history; and issues pertaining to matters such as adverse experiences in your lives to date and mental health.

"In any event, the penalty for the crime of murder is of course one fixed by law, which is that of imprisonment for life. The court requires as part of the sentencing exercise in such cases to select a period which is known as the punishment part of that fixed disposal. The punishment part is the number of years which you must serve before you can be considered for release on life licence. It is important to understand that when the court sets such a tariff it is not in any sense appointing the time when you will be released. Instead, the court is determining the number of years which must be served by you before you can actually apply for release. The punishment part does not take into account the need for public protection. That vital matter is taken into account by the Parole Board for Scotland if and when any application is made by you in due course for your release. The punishment part does, however, take into account the twin sentencing requirements of retribution and deterrence.

"In selecting appropriate punishment parts in this case I take into account the gravity of the crime of murder of which you both stand convicted on this indictment, along with the mitigatory features to which I have already made reference, in particular in this case your age and your status as first offenders. To be clear, given the concerted nature of this crime, which on the evidence was instigated by you Mr Lindsay and executed by you Mr Strachan, I have decided to make no distinction between you regarding the punishment part periods to be imposed this morning.

"Kieran Lindsay and Marshall Andrew Strachan, stand up.

"In what was a pre‑planned, concerted and targeted exercise in violent retribution, you in effect disembowelled a man outside his home address in a single blow attack with a knife which had a minimum blade length of 9 inches, all as one of you was masked, leaving your victim to bleed to death as his neighbours sought to comfort and care for him. You thereafter fled the scene on foot and then by car, and proceeded to destroy or dispose of items potentially linking you with your crime.

"In the whole circumstances, on charge 4 of this indictment, I now pass upon each of you the mandatory sentence of imprisonment for life. I fix the punishment part of each of these disposals at a period of 18 years. These sentences will be backdated to the dates of your respective initial remands into custody in these proceedings, namely for you Mr Lindsay 28 October 2024, and for you Mr Strachan 31 October 2024."

10 August 2026