Killer watched TV as man died

Published on Friday 6 November 2009 21:46

A MURDERER who left his victim dying in a garden while he went indoors to watch a television comedy has been jailed for life and ordered to serve a minimum of 15 years in prison.

David Hart, 21, and his brother, Ryan, 19, carried out a "very brutal and callous attack" on a defenceless drunk man and inflicted at least 79 injuries, a court heard.

Christopher Rooney, 39, lay moaning in pain, as the pair returned to their home and watched Mr Bean with friends.

Ryan Hart was earlier held to be insane and sent to the State Hospital at Carstairs, and David Hart appeared for sentencing at the High Court in Edinburgh yesterday. He had been convicted unanimously by a jury of murdering Mr Rooney at the brothers' home in Ryde Lane, Wishaw, Lanarkshire, in April last year.

Mr Rooney, of Wishaw, had gone to a party in the house, but was asked to leave after a row. He was attacked in the garden.

The judge, Rita Rae, QC, said that Mr Rooney had done nothing to provoke the brothers.

"Whether he could have been saved if taken to hospital earlier, we shall never know.

"However, he could be heard moaning and in obvious pain while you and your friends watched television and slept," the judge said.