Killer faces life for street knife attack

A MAN is facing life in jail after admitting murdering a father of two in a vicious knife attack on Halloween.

Ismail Burnett, 39, repeatedly stabbed James Bruce, 40, on a street in Boddam, in Aberdeenshire, on 31 October 2010. Mr Bruce died at Peterhead Hospital a short time later.

The marine engineer’s 20-year-old son found him kneeling on the ground in the middle of a road following the attack in the coastal village.

Shaun Bruce battled to save his father by putting pressure on his wounds but he was declared dead after arriving at the hospital. Burnett went on trial accused of murder at the High Court in Aberdeen on Tuesday. He had denied the charge but changed his plea yesterday. Sentence was deferred until today.

During the trial, the court heard that Mr Bruce had been given a lift by his mother Maureen Keeble, 70, to Boddam to meet someone before the attack.

He had recently split up from his wife and had become heavily dependent on drugs. Mrs Keeble was sitting waiting for her son in her car outside a corner shop with her grandson when the pair heard Mr Bruce calling for help. Minutes later, he was found covered in blood on the road a short distance away from the car.