Knife thug out on bail killed father of four

A MAN was stabbed to death in the street by a serial thug out on bail for carrying a knife.

In another soft-touch justice scandal, John Kiltie was knifed four times by Adam Lundy, 28, after complaining about noise from a party.

The 44-year-old father of four suffered a fatal wound to the heart outside a house in Girvan, Ayrshire.

Stagecoach driver Mr Kiltie collapsed and died in his mother Georgina’s arms, saying: ‘Help me, Mum.’

He had been preparing to take his family on a day trip to the coast when the attack took place in May 2016.

At the time, Lundy was out on bail for possession of a knife and carrying out racially aggravated assaults on two people. He has previous convictions for violence and carrying a knife.

At the High Court in Glasgow yesterday, Lundy was jailed for life and ordered to serve at least 19 years in prison.

It is the second time Lundy has stood trial for Mr Kiltie’s murder. He was convicted in December 2016 but the conviction was quashed by the appeal court and a retrial was ordered.

Mr Kiltie’s father John, 72, told The Sun: ‘I hope he rots in prison and gets a tough time. He deserves it. I did hope he’d get more.

‘We really want him to show us some respect now and not do any more legal challenges. Our family deserves some peace.’

Scottish Tory justice spokesman Liam Kerr said: ‘This is an individual who clearly had form for knife-possession and was awaiting sentence for a serious crime.

‘It’s scandalous he should have been free to walk the streets and commit this crime. No one will ever believe the SNP Government is tough on knife crime until it starts dealing with these individuals seriously.

‘At least now a strong sentence has been handed down and the public will expect that now to be served.’

The court heard Mr Kiltie was targeted after phoning the police about a noisy party in Park Road, Girvan. He had lived in the street with partner Sharon Tweedie, 39, for 20 years.

Lundy claimed Mr Kiltie came swinging at him with a baseball bat and he stabbed him in selfdefence, but the jury did not believe him.

Prosecutor Iain McSporran previously read out parts of impact statements provided by Mr Kiltie’s family for the judge to consider.

He told how Mr Kiltie’s father said his son’s murder ‘destroyed everyone in the family’ and that ‘there is no joy in my life’.

The court was told Mr Kiltie’s mother was ‘broken-hearted and unable to cope’.

Miss Tweedie said in a letter to the judge: ‘He was my best friend and partner for 23 years who was always there for me and the children. I don’t think the pain will ever go away.’

Sentencing Lundy, judge Lady Stacey told him: ‘You took the life of a well-loved son, partner, brother and father. You did so in the course of a violent attack with a knife.

‘You have left his family broken-hearted; life will never be the same again for them.’

In May, James Wright, 25, was jailed for stabbing father of three Craig McLelland, 31, to death in Paisley, Renfrewshire.

He had been at large after destroying his electronic tag and disappearing for six months.