Savage and depraved – ex-boyfriend guilty of killing rival in jealous rage

A man “motivated by malicious jealousy” who carried out a “horrific attack” on his former lover and her new boyfriend has been convicted of murder.

Frank Moore, 43, claimed he had an alibi and denied charges of killing Stewart Taylor, 33, and attempting to murder Lynsey Methven, 30, in her flat in the Grange area of Edinburgh.

However, a jury found him guilty by majority verdicts of both offences, after two full days of deliberating, one of the longest periods in a single-accused trial in Scotland.

Moore and Ms Methven had been in a relationship but she ended it, and the “heinous” attacks on the morning of 7 February were said by the prosecutor, Gary Allan, QC, to have been rooted in jealousy and malice.

Mr Allan revealed after the jury returned the verdicts that Moore had a series of previous convictions for assaults and threats with a “domestic” theme.

The judge, Lord Pentland, told Moore he had been convicted of a “savage and depraved” murder, for which he would be jailed for life next month once a background report had been prepared.

“Stewart Taylor was an innocent young man who had done you no harm at all,” said Lord Pentland. The attempted murder of Ms Methven, who has lost the sight in one eye, the hearing in an ear and who needs support to walk, was a “brutal” offence, said the judge.

“These were despicable crimes. On the basis of the evidence, I am left in not the slightest doubt that you are a violent and dangerous man,” said Lord Pentland.

Following the verdicts, Mr Taylor’s family said in a statement: “Stewart will be greatly missed by all of his family and friends. We love him dearly and will miss him every day.”

Moore, a labourer, of Bothwell Street, Leith, Edinburgh, used an unknown blunt weapon to beat the couple about the head and body, and he also punched and kicked them.

The charges originally accused him of starting a fire at Ms Methven’s flat in Chalmers Crescent before locking them inside and fleeing, but that allegation was withdrawn during the trial at the High Court in Edinburgh.

It was accepted the small fire could have started when a cushion landed too close to an electric fire.

Ms Methven gave evidence that Moore had a jealous trait and would become angry if she spoke to other men, even people he knew.

She said she ended their relationship when she discovered he had booked a holiday for himself in Thailand. After the split, Moore bombarded Ms Methven with “vile” and threatening telephone calls.

She had met Mr Taylor, a chef from Aberdeen, who worked in a restaurant in Edinburgh’s Old Town.

She said: “He was one in a million, a very, very trustworthy person. We bonded straight away.”

She remembered nothing of the attacks, coming round in hospital some days later.

With no “smoking gun” or eye-witnesses, the prosecution had to rely on a circumstantial case against Moore. A white van, like one he owned, had been seen in the area at the time of the attacks, and, unusually, Moore was late for work that morning.

After arriving at a building site in the Cammo area of the city, he had tried to burn a pair of boots. He had washed his clothing, even a leather belt.

Crucially, a minute bloodstain was found by scientists on the driver’s seat of Moore’s van. The DNA showed a match with Ms Methven’s profile.