Two found guilty at the High Court in Glasgow of murdering party friend

By WILMA RILEY
Published on 21/09/2012 02:52

TWO men have been convicted of murdering a 35-year-old friend, stripping him naked and dumping his body in the river.

At the High Court in Glasgow yesterday, Stephen Crawford, 24, and Darren McDevitt, 20, were found guilty of killing Michael Herbison on the banks of the River Leven at Renton, Dunbartonshire, on 29 August last year.

The pair stabbed Mr Herbison in the chest, severing two main blood vessels and causing him to bleed to death. He was also shot on the right buttock with an air rifle.

All three men had been at a party at a house in Tontine Park earlier that night and during the trial no reason was given for the attack on Mr Herbison.

After 9pm, Mr Herbison left to buy drink and cigarettes and told a friend he was then going to meet Crawford at the Polaroid bridge on the river towpath.

Crawford and McDevitt were seen leaving the party after Mr Herbison. They had an air rifle with them and said they were going to shoot rats down by the river.

The court heard that even while police were treating the case as that of a missing person both men made up false alibis for the night of the murder.

After the killing, McDevitt was heard to say: “We’ve done him,” and forensic analysis of Crawford’s shoes revealed spots of Mr Herbison’s blood on them.

The jury returned a majority guilty verdict for both men. Crawford will be jailed for life and McDevitt will be detained without limit of time.

Judge Lord Matthews deferred sentence on both until next month for background reports. He will then determine how long each must serve before being eligible to apply for parole.

Defence counsel Donald Findlay QC for Crawford and Thomas Ross for McDevitt will give their pleas in mitigation then.