Life for ‘frenzied’ attacker who knifed neighbour 82 times

By JOHN ROBERTSON
Published on 18/08/2012 01:58

A KILLER who stabbed his victim 82 times in a “remorseless and frenzied onslaught” has been jailed for life.

Michael Nolan, 44, lost control after John Kennedy, 63, made an accusation against his partner, but a court heard it had been a case of mistaken identity – the remark had been about the wrong person.

Relatives of Mr Kennedy, an avid fan of Dundee FC, gasped as details of his multiple injuries were revealed at the High Court in Edinburgh.

The judge, Lord Pentland, ordered that Nolan, of Mossgiel Crescent, Dundee, who had a conviction for serious assault in 2007, must serve 17 years before he could apply for parole.

“You have pleaded guilty to the horrifying murder of John Kennedy in his own home. It is clear you subjected him to a sustained and vicious attack in which you used an appalling level of violence. This was evidently a remorseless and frenzied onslaught,” said Lord Pentland.

Alan Butler, 66, from Warwickshire, the dead man’s brother-in-law, said: “It was a shock, the number of wounds. We were not aware he had been stabbed that many times.”

Nolan offered an apology to the family, but Mr Butler added: “It is no good apologising after the event, is it?”

The court heard that Mr Kennedy, a widower, and Nolan were neighbours in the Linlathen area of Dundee. Mr Kennedy was known to sell cigarettes and tobacco from his home, and was also suspected of supplying painkiller tablets.

A disturbance was heard in Mr Kennedy’s home on the night of Sunday 29 April and a figure was seen running from the house. Neighbours went to investigate and found Mr Kennedy lying on the living room floor. He was covered in blood and appeared to be dead.

The advocate-depute, Andrew Brown, QC, said that during the subsequent police inquiry, members of the public handed in a knife, a pair of trainers, a jacket and a glove which had been found nearby.

Mr Kennedy’s blood was on the trainers, along with Nolan’s DNA. Footprints around the body matched the trainers. His blood was also on the jacket which Nolan had been seen wearing a few weeks earlier.

“The deceased had sustained 82 stab wounds, only suggestive of a complete loss of control on the part of Nolan. There were 68 stab injuries to the back,” said Mr Brown.

The defence counsel, Mark Stewart, QC, said there had been no previous animosity between the men. That night, Nolan had gone to buy cigarettes but for some reason Mr Kennedy had been unhappy at being 
disturbed.

“He was curt and indicated he was closing up his enterprise for the night. There was an exchange of words and the deceased suggested the accused’s partner owed some money to him. It appears this was simply a case of mistaken identity on the part of the deceased… there was someone else with a similar name,” said Mr Stewart.