Two years in jail for brute who killed pal over rap
Lyrics about girlfriend sparked fatal fight
A Larkhall thug who killed a friend after he rapped about his girlfriend was yesterday (Wednesday) jailed for two years.
Kirk Nolan (28) had shoved Ryan Watson in the face and neck, tragically causing him to suffer fatal injuries.
The 24-year-old victim died in August this year before he could see the birth of his child.
Nolan had pleaded guilty to a charge of culpable homicide.
The friends had spent the day of the killing — August 11 — in “good spirits” renovating the garden of Nolan’s uncle.
They later went with others to the flat of Nolan’s lover in Larkhall. The gathering was to remember a friend who had just been killed in a car accident.
Prosecutor Bruce Erroch said Mr Watson and Nolan were then in the living room “singing along to music”.
Mr Erroch went on: “Ryan and Nolan got to their feet and started doing what one witness described as ‘this rapping kind of thing’.
“Ryan was improvising words to a ‘rap’ including words about Nolan’s girlfriend which he found offensive.”
The men then “grappled head-to-head” with each other. The advocate depute said: “In the course of that altercation, Nolan pushed Ryan forcefully once to the left face and neck area.
“This caused him to twist and fall face
first onto the sofa.”
Ryan’s lips turned blue and his eyes began rolling. One woman shouted Ryan, who had epilepsy, was “fitting”.
In a 999 call, she stated: ‘I’ve got an epileptic who’s had a wee bit of an argument with his friend. He has passed out and he’s turned blue.’
Mr Watson was rushed to hospital, but did not recover.
He suffered a “massive” brain injury as well as damage to a vital artery “typically associated with a blow to the head or neck”.
Pathologists stated Ryan had been the victim of “significant blunt force trauma” consistent with having been pushed “forcefully”.
Tony Graham, defending, said the type of blow landed by Nolan would normally have resulted in no injury.
The advocate added what happened could almost be described as “freak consequences”.
The court was also told Nolan had been “visibly upset” when discussing the incident.
Sentencing, Lord Boyd said a “life had been taken” but he described the level of “criminality” as being at “the lower end of the scale”.
He added: “The circumstances are all the more tragic because the mechanism of the death is most unusual.”
The judge said he would have considered sparing Nolan jail, but for his violent past, which included a stint behind bars for assault.
Lord Boyd cut the sentence by a year due to Nolan’s guilty plea.