Man jailed for 'vindictive' steak knife murder

Kevin Geoghegan used a knife to strike Peter Kirkwood

A killer who stabbed a man to death with a steak knife and got rid of his own clothes in a river has been jailed for life.

Kevin Geoghegan, 46, attacked Peter Kirkwood, 24, in Lanark, South Lanarkshire, on 16 July 2022.

He was found guilty of murdering Mr Kirkwood and of assaulting Mr Kirkwood's friend Erdzhan Mamedov to his injury.

Judge Lord Clark described the assault as being "a vindictive attack with serious brutality".

Geoghegan had been drinking at a friend's house and was seen on CCTV shouting at cars and arguing with a taxi driver prior to barging into Mr Kirkwood and his friends as they left a pub.

The attacker - who was armed with two knives - then grabbed a traffic cone and goaded the group.

Peter Kirkwood died on 16 July 2022

Geoghegan claimed that he was then attacked by two men and he swung the blades about in self-defence.

The court heard he struck Mr Kirkwood's body and arm at least seven times, with the fatal blow to his upper chest.

He then fled the scene, cleaned himself up, changed his clothing and dumped them into the River Clyde.

Geoghegan added that he was "fighting for his life" and that although he struck Mr Kirkwood in the chest four times it had been done randomly.

He also said he was "gutted" to learn Mr Kirkwood had been fatally hurt.

Judge Lord Clark stated: "There is no sentence I can impose which can alleviate the devastating impact on the family members of Mr Kirkwood."

The judge gave him a life sentence with the minimum punishment of 18 years in prison.