Man jailed after killing neighbour in row over loud music

Steven Kettles was ordered to serve at least 14 years in prison after killing David Allan, 44, in a flat.

Kettles had claimed he had been making a sandwich when Allan came to his door to complain about the music.

A judge told Kettles, 28, at the High Court in Edinburgh: “There is no excuse for you having taken a knife with you when you answered the door.”

Lord Tyre told the murderer that he had taken away the remaining years of the victim’s life and deprived his family of him. He said: “Nothing I can say or do today can bring him back.”

Kettles had denied murdering Mr Allan by stabbing him on the body with a knife on March 3 in the fatal assault at a flat in Fife, but was earlier found guilty of the offence by a jury.

He claimed that Mr Allan had banged on his bedroom window, shouting for him to turn music down.

Kettles claimed that he did but shortly afterwards the victim was banging on his front door of the flat in Overton Mains, Kirkcaldy, continuing to shout about the music.

Kettles said: “I never forced the knife into him. He went into it.”

He dialled 999 for an ambulance and followed instructions to apply pressure to the wound.

During the trial the jury heard that there was a problem with Kettles, who has learning difficulties, playing loud music at night.

A friend of the victim told the court that Mr Allan had mentioned loud music being played all the time in the flat beneath him in the block.

Mr Allan’s brother, John, 49, also spoke of the problem with the volume coming from downstairs and said his brother would bang on the floor.

Lord Tyre told Kettles that he had regard to his learning difficulties, but pointed out that he had “a lengthy record of offending”. He added: “You don’t appear to have been able to learn the lesson that criminal behaviour is wrong.”