Knife thug bragged after stabbing takeaway owner

Jie Yu was stabbed ten times in the neck, hands, legs, chest and abdomen. Picture: Phil Wilkinson

Gary Reid – the brother of John Reid, who was sentenced to five years for the killing takeaway delivery driver Simon San – pleaded guilty to attempted murder with racial aggravation at the High Court in Glasgow yesterday.

The 19-year-old had swallowed 70 valium pills before carrying out the horrific assault on Pilton’s Ferry Road Drive later told police: “I think it’s funny – Ch*****s dying everywhere.”

It is understood the Reid family have been forced to leave their council house in West Pilton and move out of north Edinburgh entirely.

Reid’s accomplice, James Hogg, 24, also pleaded guilty to the same charge at court yesterday, but without the racial aggravation.

Jie Yu, who runs the Peking Garden takeaway in West  Pilton, was left with life-threatening injuries after being stabbed ten times in the neck, hands, legs, chest and abdomen on October 1.

The 38-year-old, who spent ten days recovering in hospital, later told how he felt “lucky to be alive” but revealed the incident had left him traumatised and suffering from nightmares.

The court heard how Mr Yu had been working at his takeaway on the night of October 1 and had gone to his car to make a delivery, but had returned to the restaurant after forgetting a bottle of juice – leaving his keys in the vehicle and the engine running.

His attackers, Reid and Hogg, were in a kebab shop next door, both armed with knives. When Mr Yu came back outside and spotted his car being driven away by the pair, he immediately jumped on his daughter’s bike and went to chase after his stolen vehicle.

After catching up with the thieves, the father-of-three was threatened by Reid, who yelled: “What the f*** are you going to do?

“You’re going to do f*** all.”

Mr Yu was then stabbed repeatedly by the two men before they fled the scene.

Today, one the lead detectives in the case told how police caught Reid in less than four hours because of his boasts to friends and family. Detective Inspector David Pinkney condemned the crime as a “brutal attack on a well-liked and regarded member of the West Pilton community”.

And he praised West Pilton residents for helping police track down the perpetrators.

“Officers worked quickly in order to bring Reid and Hogg to justice for their crimes,” said DI Pinkney.

“Now that Gary Reid and James Hogg have pleaded guilty, I hope Jie and his family can move on from this ordeal.

“We were very fortunate in that the community of West Pilton pulled together and gave us a lot of information. We would not have got to this stage without the community.

“There was a substantial number of people who, even if they had not seen anything, had something to offer the investigation. A substantial number of people came forward.

“We can’t do our job without the community supporting us when it comes to anything like this. There’s a lot of good people in West Pilton.”

Councillor Cammy Day, the city’s community safety leader, insisted anybody living in council housing who is convicted of a serious crime against the surrounding community will be removed from the area.

He said: “The Reid family has now been moved outwith north Edinburgh and they won’t be back.

“I’m glad that at long last justice has been done, and by Reid and Hogg pleading guilty they have prevented the family from going through any further ordeal.  “I have met the [victim’s] family myself and reassured them that we will do everything we can to protect them, but also to remove these people.

“What this has proved again – and the same with the case of Mikaeel Kular – is that the whole community comes together. One of their own community has been attacked and they have rallied round to see what they can do.

“We will be working as close as we can with the police and with the local community to put a stop to this kind of behaviour.”

Gary Reid had previously been jailed for 14 months following an assault and robbery in September 2013.

Hogg had a string of convictions for violence – including a 42-month sentence in 2007.

Reid’s brother, John, was just 16 when he admitted killing 40-year-old Simon San with a single punch in August 2010.

James Hogg, who had fled to Paisley in an attempt to evade capture, was collared by police six days later.

Willie Black, secretary of West Pilton and West Granton Community Council, said there was “a long way to go to resolve the problems in north Edinburgh”.

Reid and Hogg will be sentenced next month at the High Court in Aberdeen.

Driver killed outside shop

TAKEAWAY driver Simon San was killed outside his family’s Lochend shop in August 2010 after being attacked by teenagers.

The 40-year-old was on the phone to the police, reporting the gang for rocking his car, when John Reid, 16, stepped forward and struck him on the face.

Mr San fell down, hitting his head on the pavement and never regained consciousness.

He died the next day from a fractured skull and internal bleeding.

Reid, at the time of Ferry Road Drive, admitted the culpable homicide of Mr San and was sentenced to five years’ detention.

Michael Roberts and Keir Rodger pleaded guilty to assaulting Mr San by rocking his car and forcing him to leave the vehicle.

Police later apologised to the family of Vietnam-born Mr San for failing to recognise that his killing was racially motivated. Before the killing, police were repeatedly called by his family over complaints of racial harassment.