Weights attacker faces life for killing pal
BY WILMA RILEY reporters@dailyrecord.co.uk
A DAD-OF-TWO was yesterday convicted of murdering his best friend by bludgeoning him with a dumbbell.
The brutal attack by Kyle McAuley on Kevin McCluskey took place in the early hours of March 24 at a flat in Nelson Street, Greenock.
Dad-of-three Kevin, 28, was smashed on the back of the head by McAuley and then, after he fell on to a bed, he was hit again and again by the weapon.
As Kevin lay on his back on the bed – dead or dying – sick McAuley, 30, took a photograph of him and sent it to his then girlfriend. Fifty minutes later, after moving Kevin’s body on to the floor of the bedroom, McAuley took another photo and sent it to his former partner.
This showed Kevin’s face covered in blood and with horrific injuries.
At 5.40am, McAuley made a 999 call claiming he came home from work to find a stranger lying dead or dying at the front door of his flat.
During the call to the emergency services, McAuley could be heard laughing.
When police arrived at McAuley’s flat in Nelson Street, Kevin’s body had again been moved.
McAuley was convicted of murdering Kevin, then taking photographs of his body and sending them to his then girlfriend and his ex-partner and attempting to pervert the course of justice by moving Kevin’s body and placing a knife near it.
Judge Lord Mulholland told McAuley that a life sentence and punishment part would be imposed at the High Court in Edinburgh next month.