Killer gets life for 'wicked and brutal attack'

A KILLER was jailed for life yesterday and ordered to serve a minimum of 19 years for repeatedly stabbing a teenager and dumping his body in a stream.

David Barker, 25, had taken Robbie Thomson's mobile phones so he had no way of calling for help, and the judge said he had shown a complete lack of humanity.

Lorraine Schofield, mother of Mr Thomson, 17, left the High Court in Edinburgh without commenting. Previously, she had demanded an inquiry into why Barker was free to kill after flouting a court order and tearing off an electronic ankle tag.

A jury had heard that Barker and Mr Thomson argued near Coupar Burn in Coupar Angus, Perthshire, where they both lived. Barker stabbed him 11 times and after rifling his victim's pockets, dragged him down an embankment and threw him, still alive, into the burn.

Lady Clark told Barker: "This was a most wicked and brutal attack. You deprived him of any means of calling for help. You showed no humanity."