Man jailed for murdering disabled victim with hammer

Peter Morgan was discovered seriously injured in a flat in Sikeside Street, Coatbridge, and later died

A man who battered a disabled man to death with a hammer in his Coatbridge flat has been jailed for a minimum of 20 years.

Stephen Thomson, 26, was earlier found guilty of murdering 60-year-old Peter Morgan in November 2021.

A court heard one of Mr Morgan's skull fractures was so severe it resembled an injury seen after a car accident or a fall from great height.

Judge Lord Young told Thomson he had committed "a savage attack."

The judge told Thomson: "There were a number of aggravating factors to this murder, most significantly that Mr Morgan was an exceptionally vulnerable man who used a wheelchair for mobility and had difficulties with alcohol.

"The attack took place in his own home where he had an expectation of being safe."

The trial was told that Mr Morgan died from his injuries in hospital five days after the attack.

Stephen Thomson hid the murder weapon behind a toilet

Callum Hiller, defending, told the High Court at Livingston that Thomson had given some kind of account of the crime to social workers, but it appeared to be only what he had heard from others during consultations or during his trial.

In a victim impact statement, Mr Thomson's sister expressed disbelief that she had lost her brother to "such a senseless and violent attack".

During the trial, the jury heard that the killer turned up unexpectedly at a woman's home after the attack, still in possession of a hammer and with marks on his face.

The murder weapon was later discovered hidden behind a toilet during a subsequent police search of the flat.