Teenager gets five years for fatally stabbing man in heart

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Daryll WrightImage source, Police handout
Image caption,

Daryll Wright died two days after the attack

A teenager who fatally stabbed a man in the heart during a row has been detained for five years.

Steven Gilmour was 17 when he attacked Daryll Wright at a house in Kilwinning, North Ayrshire, on 22 May 2021.

Mr Wright, 20, of Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, never recovered and died two days later.

Gilmour, now 18, was sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow having earlier admitted culpable homicide.

Lady Stacey told him: "I accept that you do feel remorse, but it must have been obvious, even to a boy of 17, that stabbing someone with a knife is a very dangerous thing to do.

"This resulted in a death.

"The tragedy is both you and Darryl Wright were setting out in life and you took his away."

The judge told Gilmour he would also be supervised for two years on his release.

Image source, Spindrift
Image caption,

Gilmour will also be supervised for two years on his release

A hearing last month was told how a number of young men and women had gathered at the house in Kilwinning.

The court heard Gilmour turned up uninvited, but was allowed in.

He then got into a fight with Mr Wright which also saw the victim being hit with a stool. A bike was also hurled towards him.

Prosecutor Leanne Cross said: "Both ended up on the floor. After being on the floor, Gilmour was seen to get up and back away.

"It was seen that he had a knife in his hand."

Gilmour dropped the weapon and fled the scene.

Mr Wright managed to get up and went outside before collapsing in an alleyway.

'Begged' for life

The victim was described as being in a "bad way" and a girl was heard screaming as she raced to help him.

Ms Cross added: "He begged her not to let him die and to call 999."

Mr Wright was rushed to Crosshouse Hospital, Kilmarnock, where he was found to have a stab wound to the chest and to his inner left thigh.

He went on to suffer a heart attack and died on 24 May.

The court heard Gilmour had initially fled to his own home nearby in Kilwinning.

He went on to message a girl on Snapchat and admitted he had been "fighting" with Mr Wright.

'All a mistake'

Ms Cross said: "He said he did not mean to do it, but had picked up a knife as a threat.

"He said that he felt horrible, hoped (Daryll) would pull through and that it was all a mistake."

Gilmour was later charged with murder and bailed by a sheriff.

But he was detained amid separate claims he had assaulted another man in Kilwinning and brandished a knife at him on 1 January 2022.

Gilmour had also faced those charges at the hearing last month but prosecutors accepted his not guilty plea.

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