Man guilty of handyman murder and robbery

Steven Sidebottom (left) denied murdering and robbing Brian McKandie

A man has been convicted of the brutal murder and robbery of a handyman in Aberdeenshire.

Brian McKandie, 67, was found dead in his cottage near Rothienorman on 12 March 2016.

Police initially treated Mr McKandie's death as an accident but a post-mortem examination later found he had suffered at least 15 blows to the head.

Steven Sidebottom, 25, denied murder and robbery but a jury returned a guilty verdict by majority.

Some members of the jury - who spent almost 11 hours considering the verdict over the past three days - were visibly upset.

At the High Court in Aberdeen, the judge, Lord Uist, deferred sentence on Sidebottom, who showed no emotion.

• The 'accidental death' that was a brutal murder

• An ordinary man with £200,000 hidden in his cottage

Lord Uist told the father-of-one and first offender: "You have been convicted by the jury of the crimes of murder and robbery of Brian McKandie, a man who lived alone in his cottage.

"He was brutally murdered by being struck at least 15 times on the head in order to obtain money which you gave to other people and used yourself.

"The sentence for murder is fixed by law - it's imprisonment for life. You will in due course be sentenced to imprisonment for life."

'Cash-in-hand'

Outside court, members of Mr McKandie's family welcomed the verdict after an 18-day trial, but said they still did not know the reasons behind his murder.

A statement read out on their behalf said: "The reality is we will never understand why Brian - a complete gentleman - died in such a brutal and senseless way, and it is something we will never come to terms with."

For many decades, Mr McKandie was known as someone who carried out cash-in-hand car repairs at the garage at his home, as well as fixing electrical items.

He would often joke with customers that the money would "top up" his "shoebox".

Almost seven weeks after his body was found in his rural cottage, police found a number of sweet and biscuit tins and shoeboxes containing about £200,000.

Police found about £200,000 in notes kept in sweet tins and shoe boxes at Mr McKandie's cottage

After the case became a murder inquiry, Mr McKandie's death featured on Crimewatch and a £10,000 reward was offered.

In the months that followed, police attention turned to Steven Sidebottom, who knew Mr McKandie and lived locally.

Officers saw discrepancies in the information he had given them about being outside the pensioner's home in the days before he died.

Members of Mr McKandie's family said they still did not understand why he had been murdered

The court heard evidence he suddenly had what appeared to be "thousands" of pounds around the time of the murder, and had "lavished" gifts on his student girlfriend.

It was also claimed he had been planning a criminal job to get money.

However, his defence counsel Ian Duguid QC argued that there was no evidence any money had been taken from Mr McKandie's home.

Lord Uist told the jury that in order to convict Sidebottom, they would have to accept the "whole package" of the circumstantial case presented by the prosecution.

The victim worked in the garage next to his cottage

The judge noted that no DNA was found linking the accused to the crime, nor any fingerprints.

He said there were no eyewitnesses, no bloodied clothing, and that no witnesses had been asked what Sidebottom had been wearing on the day of the murder.

'Complete gentleman'

Following the guilty verdict, members of Mr McKandie's family described him as "a hard-working and quiet man who wouldn't have done anyone a bad turn".

Brian McKandie lived in the cottage most of his life

They said: "Every day we think about what happened to Brian in the home he lived his whole life, and every day we struggle to understand why this happened to him.

"As a family we are extremely pleased with and welcome today's outcome, however it doesn't bring Brian back.

"We would like to thank the public for your help and support throughout this investigation and to everyone involved in bringing this case to court."

'Web of lies'

Police Scotland's Major Investigation Team welcomed Sidebottom's conviction for "the cold and calculated murder".

Det Supt Iain Smith said: "Given the private person Brian was, he didn't have a lot of close friends and didn't let anyone into his home.

"The fact he was murdered within his own house - the place he had lived since he was two years old - made this crime all the more callous."

He said Sidebottom went to "extreme efforts to cover his tracks and spun a web of lies to deceive the people around him".

Det Supt Smith said police had apologised to Mr McKandie's family for his death not initially being recognised as being murder.

Sidebottom will be sentenced at the High Court in Edinburgh on 6 March.