Teenager who stabbed neighbour to death in Johnstone is detained

Jack McBride pled guilty to a charge of culpable homicide at the High Court in Glasgow

A teenager who captioned a Snapchat selfie with the word "gametime" before killing a neighbour has been detained for six years and eight months.

Jack McBride was 17 when he stabbed Johnny Winters in the heart during a confrontation in the street.

McBride had earlier called his ex-girlfriend, taunting her about how she thought he could not kill somebody.

He had gone on trial at the High Court in Glasgow for murder, but pled guilty to a charge of culpable homicide.

Judge Lady Haldane deferred sentence on McBride, of Johnstone, Renfrewshire, to the High Court in Edinburgh after hearing the circumstances of the attack.

She had heard how McBride acted under provocation as Mr Winters, 26, had earlier struck him with the blunt side of an axe.

Lady Haldane heard McBride's defence advocate Thomas Ross QC speak of how his client had expressed remorse for his actions and was dedicated to turning his life around.

However, Lady Haldane told McBride that she had no other option but to detain him in custody.

She said: "A period of detention is appropriate in a case where another life has been taken. There is no other disposal appropriate for this case."

'I will be a name'

Both men had both lived in High Street, Johnstone, when the attack took place on 1 April 2020.

The killer previously suspected Mr Winters was responsible for the door of his family home being set alight in 2019.

McBride then believed Mr Winters's partner had later made a threat towards his sister.

On the night of the fatal attack, the teenager called his ex-girlfriend. The court heard how he stated: "You think I cannot kill someone. You think my bark is bigger than my bite.

"Johnny Winters thinks he is a name. I will be a name."

Both his ex and his mother failed to calm McBride down. He soon left the flat armed with a kitchen knife.

The teenager stormed up outside Mr Winters's flat and yelled at him to come downstairs.

Prosecutor Neil McCulloch told the court: "McBride video recorded this interaction and shared it over Snapchat.

"The recording ends with a selfie of McBride captioned 'gametime'."

Jurors heard McBride and Mr Winters "squared up" in the street before McBride was struck with the "blunt side" of a hatchet.

The teenager responded by stabbing Mr Winters once in the chest with the knife before running off.

Lady Haldane told McBride, who observed proceedings via video link from YOI Polmont, that if he hadn't pleaded guilty, he would have received a seven-year custodial term.