Killer admits frenzied knife murder of friend

A man who killed his close friend in a frenzied knife attack during a row at a party pleaded guilty to murder today.

Robert Gracie, 23, was said to have been “like a maniac” when he set upon father-of-one James Tierney in the garden with a nine-inch blade.

Mr Tierney, a 27-year-old welder, suffered massive blood loss after being stabbed eight times in front of onlookers by the friend he had known since childhood.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard the fatal row ensued after Gracie became upset, believing people at the party he threw at his West Lothian home had shown a “lack of respect” for the property.

Before launching the attack, he warned: “I’m going to go mental.”

Gracie claimed Mr Tierney had tried to attack him first with a brick - a suggestion prosecutors do not accept.

Gracie now faces a life sentence after admitting to the murder at Letham Place, Pumpherston, on April 2 this year.