SENTENCING STATEMENTS

Upon sentencing, Lord Cubie made the following remarks:

"The 18 April 2025 was a day which gave rise to a chaotic, charged and ultimately tragic set of events resulting in the death of Ali Lamb. I have read the victim impact statement (VIS) which tells me that he was a much-loved son, step-son and sibling and that this death has hit the family, his father in particular, very hard indeed. Plainly, nothing that the court can do is able to lessen that loss, but I am grateful for the opportunity of learning more about his life in dealing with this matter.

"You have pled guilty to his culpable homicide, which means that you accept having perpetrated an assault which although not classed as murderous was a deliberate act of stabbing and not a reckless or grossly careless act by you, as a result of which Mr Lamb suffered fatal injuries; and the events of that day will also blight your own life.

"From the narrative, which was given on the last occasion, and difficult as this may be for Mr Lamb’s family to hear or acknowledge, I have to take into account the fact that the initial confrontation was prompted by Mr Lamb; he appears to have been offensive to you practically on arrival and thus began an altercation which continued, both verbally and physically until the final fatal moments. As I read the narrative you stuck the first blow by physically assaulting him after various exchanges of verbal insults; that was met by threats form Mr Lamb to stab you; the situation was described as chaotic. Mr Lamb then armed himself with a knife from the kitchen despite attempts from your parents to restore some peace.

"He made his way to your bedroom to which you had retreated, and despite efforts from your mother to stop you coming out, you emerged with your own knife. Again, despite the efforts of both your parents to stop this developing, you and Mr Lamb then became involved in a physical tussle; you then stabbed him in the back. There was obvious confusion and upset; police and ambulance attended; you were found in your room with two small puncture wounds on your chest, accepted to have inflicted by Mr Lamb. You seemed to have used a safety rescue style knife.

"There was one stab wound; significant force was used to break a small flake of bone off; it penetrated through to the pulmonary artery. Mr Lamb bled profusely; he had no cardiac output; oxygen was low. CPR was undertaken but he remained unresponsive and was pronounced life extinct at Ninewells an hour or so after being stabbed.

"I have read the report carefully; it reflects that you a clear understanding of what you did and a degree of insight and remorse. It reports that you present with a range of complex needs and vulnerabilities.

"It paints a concerning picture of an upbringing punctuated by social work involvement because of the chaotic condition of the house; of an unhappy time at school where you suffered bullying, and which affected your schooling. Both time at Rossie House and Polmont have been problematic in terms of your relationships with other young persons, again perceived by you as bullying, leading you being separated form most of your peers; there are concerns about a possible PTSD or diagnosis; you describe yourself as 'full of anger'.

"You accept having taken the knife, part of your 'collection' and used it to attack Mr Lamb he having come at you with a knife.

"The report might be seen in some respects to criticise you for your own contribution to the escalation, or alternative courses of action. That seems to impose exacting standards when you were being threatened by a family friend in your own home and had for some of the time taken refuge in your bedroom. You were under threat, but you armed yourself and went to confront /meet the complainer. You stabbed him once but with considerable force. But you elected to go out to meet the challenge.

"The young person’s guidelines are applicable. The exercise of sentencing a young person is different from that of sentencing an older person, in particular because a young person will generally have a lower level of maturity, and a greater capacity for change and rehabilitation, than an older person.

"This means I have to have regard to your maturity at the time the offence was committed. Young people are generally less able to exercise good judgement when making decisions; I recognise that in carrying out this attack, you thought less clearly about what could happen as a result of your actions, including the impact on any victim and others affected by those actions; and you took more risks, including of course arming yourself.

"As a consequence I recognise that your culpability is lower than that of an older person who is to be sentenced for the same, or a similar, offence.

"The purposes of a sentence include protection of the public; punishment; rehabilitation of offenders; giving the offender the opportunity to make amends; and expressing disapproval of offending behaviour.

"In this case the nature and extent of the behaviour, the use of a weapon and the consequences of that, the death of Mr Lamb mean that the considerations about rehabilitation affect the length of sentence only. Culpability is high; harm is high; the purposes of punishment and condemnation outweigh other sentencing purposes. I must impose a sentence of detention.

"But in sentencing I also recognise that the guidelines provide that if a custodial sentence is imposed on a young person, it should be shorter than that which would have been imposed on an older person for the same, or a similar, offence in order that rehabilitation and integration can begin at an earlier date, and these are taken into account in the sentence imposed. So I look to rehabilitation.

"The report reflects an inability to settle in the custodial environment; you perceive yourself to be subjected to bullying; the report concludes that you are sometimes the instigator. This has affected your ability to take advantage of some of the options available to you. The report identifies a number of areas where you could be assisted in fuller understanding or matter such as emotional regulation, conflict management and decision making. There are plenty of areas where rehabilitation could be fruitful; although you have had peer to peer issues, the report does at least clearly reflect that you have no issues with staff and that you have been able to respond positively to the separation and reintegration unit and inclusion officer, which offers some prospects for positive rehabilitation.

"I turn now to sentence and in doing so factor in that you armed yourself; you chose to come out of your room to meet the challenge; You stabbed him with considerable force; He died as a result of you conduct.

"Against that the events took place in your own home, with an older and therefore more mature attacker, a friend of your father’s, who had started the confrontation, continued it after the first physical action, armed himself with a knife from your parents kitchen, and came to find you; you accepted responsibility, have shown remorse and some insight and can benefit from rehabilitation with specific and structured focus.

"Had you been convicted of the offence of culpable homicide after trial  I would have imposed a sentence of seven years and six months detention; you pled guilty on the eve of the trial ; there is a degree of utility and I recognise that the charge is less serious. These matters given rise to a modification which I assess one fifth; the sentence of detention imposed is accordingly one of six years detention to be served form the date of your remand 22 April 2025."

12 October 2026