Laughing thug who kicked dying man gets just nine months

Published on Thursday 2 October 2008 22:26

IT WAS a horrifying reversal of the tale of the good samaritan: a drunken thug laughed while he kicked a man in the head as he lay dying in his friend's arms.

Christopher Spence kicked Stuart Baillie while he was lying in the street, soaked in blood after being stabbed, Glasgow Sheriff Court heard yesterday.

The 19-year-old was walking past the scene when he decided to stop and gloat before attacking Mr Baillie, who was either "dead or close to it". Mr Baillie had been stabbed by Ian Lowrie, 19, who was jailed for 11 years for killing the scaffolder on Glasgow's Easterhouse estate.

Sheriff Bill Totten told Spence yesterday: "This offence is an evil act … it must have been obvious that Stuart Baillie was injured and defenceless when you kicked him."

Mr Baillie's mother, Christine Halley, ran crying from the courtroom as the verdict was read out. She said: "I wouldn't even kick a dog or a cat the way that animal kicked my boy. It's bad enough he was stabbed and killed but now, every day, I've got to wonder if he felt those kicks; if that was the last thing he felt."

Last night, Paul Martin, the Labour MSP for Glasgow, urged the Crown Office to consider an appeal against the sentence. He said: "This was a grotesque act against someone in an extremely vulnerable position. Nine months isn't nearly long enough for such an appalling crime."

Spence, from Easterhouse, earlier admitted a breach of the peace by repeatedly kicking 19-year-old Mr Baillie, last August. He was also originally charged with assaulting Mr Baillie's friends, Liam Sneddon and Lisa McTaggart, but not guilty pleas were accepted.

Sariya Malik, the prosecutor, said: "Mr Baillie's friend immediately phoned an ambulance and went over to Mr Baillie and lifted up his top to look for wounds, but couldn't see any because he was covered in blood.

"Mr Baillie's eyes started to roll to the back of his head and his friend was cradling his head to protect him.

"At this point, the accused, who had no relationship with the person who had stabbed Mr Baillie, came over and kicked him once to the face and once to the side of his body while laughing."

Spence then ran from the scene but was arrested after witnesses told police what had happened. A post-mortem stated that the injuries caused by Spence did not contribute to Mr Baillie's death.