Killer caged for 14 years
A KILLER has been jailed for at least 14 years after he killed his friend and left him under a pile of rubbish in his flat.
Ross Nicholson attacked Brian Martin, above, after he made a comment about a relative, sending him into a rage.
Brian had a bag pulled over his head and his hands bound before being set upon with a broken table leg and a knife.
Brian’s sister eventually called the police after he disappeared.
Officers made the grim find of Brian’s mutilated corpse in his flat in Glasgow.
A KILLER brutally murdered his friend – then left him tied up under a pile of rubbish.
Ross Nicholson attacked Brian Martin last November after the victim apparently made a comment about a relative sending him into a rage. Brian had a bag pulled over his head, his hands bound before being set upon with a broken table leg and a knife.
Nicholson, 37, later lied to Brian’s sister that he had not seen her 34 year-old brother.
After days of desperately trying to contact him, she called in police before the grim find of Brian’s mutilated corpse in his flat in Knightswood, Glasgow.
Nicholson was later held – detectives went on to find he had Brian’s phone that his sister had tried to reach him on.
The thug – who pleaded guilty to murder – was yesterday jailed for a minimum of 14 years at the High Court in Glasgow.
A judge told Nicholson that he had carried out a “sustained and brutal” attack.
Brian was described as a “quiet person” who was “not confrontational”. He and Nicholson lived at the same block of flats in the city’s Lincoln Avenue.
They were friends despite only knowing each other a few months.
The court heard Brian was last seen alive in the early hours of November 5.
He was clocked on CCTV going into the lift with Nicholson.
Prosecutors stated the murder occurred between that day and November 7 at Brian’s flat.
Officers got into Brian’s flat and immediately spotted blood.
Advocate depute Bernard Ablett said: “They entered and found Brian lying on the living room floor with his hands tied behind his back. There were obvious signs of a disturbance.”
Thomas Ross, defending, said Nicholson “deeply regrets the pain and distress” he has caused Brian’s family.
Explaining the lead-up to the killing, Mr Ross went on: “There was an argument between them.
“Brian Martin made reference of a relative of Mr Nicholson that he (the accused) had a deep emotional attachment to. He accepts he then completely lost control.”