Newly bailed maniac stabbed OAP
A THUG who stabbed a pensioner to death for no reason after a crime spree was jailed for at least 21 years yesterday.
Peter Telfer, 25, was let out on bail over a violent attempted robbery less than two days before he knifed cancer survivor John Baker, 76, twice in the back in the street.
He violently stole one woman’s handbag then tried to rob another in the hours before the murder.
Jailing Telfer for life, Lord Matthews told him: “Your appalling conduct was caught on CCTV.
“That chilling footage showed you engaged in the most cowardly of behaviour, targeting women then stabbing Mr Baker in the back.
“He had the guts to turn and face you before you made off as if nothing had happened.”
Lord Matthews said Telfer carried out the senseless attack “for no reason I can discern”.
Telfer was freed on bail on June 27 last year after being charged with assault and attempted robbery at a shop in Shettleston Road, Glasgow.
But the following day, he robbed a woman of her handbag outside Glasgow Central Station and tried to snatch another woman’s bag at a bus stop at Trongate.
Telfer then murdered John in the Calton area at 12.25am on June 29.
John was walking home after a night out with a friend when the thug launched the unprovoked attack.
The old man managed to flag down a council lorry and tell the workers: “I’ve been stabbed.”
But by the time the three men had got out of the truck, John had collapsed. He died at Glasgow Royal Infirmary from blood loss.
John had recently had a kidney removed and been given the all-clear from cancer. He had also recently recovered from a stroke and a triple heart bypass.
Lord Matthews said he had been “looking forward to a holiday to celebrate”.
Telfer, who pled guilty mid-trial, says he was drunk and on Valium during his rampage and remembers very little.
Thomas Ross, defending, told the High Court in Glasgow his client had a “miserable childhood” and grew up in care.
John’s niece Carol Baker-Longshaw said outside court: “It won’t ever compensate for the loss of our gentle uncle John but we feel justice has been served.
“Telfer had a damaged upbringing. It might be a reason for his behaviour, but is certainly no excuse to kill an elderly, innocent, vulnerable gentleman in cold blood.
“We lost our mum last year. John was our last living relative. Peter Telfer robbed us of our mentor and confidant.”
Peter Telfer robbed us of our mentor NIECE