The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Killers jailed for brutal murder
ALYTH: Victim’s family say there are ‘no winners here today’
Two men are beginning life sentences for the brutal murder of a Dundee dad in a Perthshire town.
Murray Fotheringham and Lee Winters were found guilty of knifing John Donachy to death at a house in Alyth following a trial which lasted six days at the High Court in Edinburgh.
The 26-year-old labourer was also beaten around the head with a blunt weapon.
Fotheringham, 36, who has previous convictions for serious assault, will be behind bars for at least 19 years.
Winters, 37, will not be eligible for parole until 2034.
Relatives of Mr Donachy wept as the jury’s verdict was read out.
Speaking outside court, Mr Donachy’s uncle, also John, said: “We feel that justice has been done today, but there are no winners here.
“There are children who have been left without their father. Those two men have children too.”
The family of a murdered dad said justice had been served, after his killers were sentenced to life behind bars.
Murray Fotheringham and Lee Winters were found guilty of knifing 26-year-old John Donachy to death at a house in Alyth, east Perthshire.
The High Court in Edinburgh heard the labourer, from Dundee, was also beaten around the head with a baseball bat or similar blunt weapon.
Jurors found the pair guilty by majority after six days of evidence.
Fotheringham, who has previous convictions for serious assault, will stay in jail for at least 19 years. Winters was told he will not be eligible for parole until 2034.
Relatives of Mr Donachy broke down in tears as the verdict was read out.
Speaking outside court, Mr Donachy’s uncle, also John, said: “We feel that justice has been done today, but there are no winners here.
“There are children who have been left without their father. Those two men have children too.”
He said the family now wanted space to grieve in peace.
Sentencing Fotheringham, 36, and Winters, 37, Lord Beckett said they had been found guilty of an “appalling crime”.
“I have to recognise that Mr Donachy was not blameless here, but your conduct was in a different league, arming yourselves with weapons including at least one knife and possibly a baseball bat,” he said.
“You set upon Mr Donachy, who was intoxicated and would not have had any chance to defend himself.
“No attempt was made to get emergency medical assistance for him.”
He added: “Mr Donachy was loved by his brothers, who said this loss has been devastating and has had profound implications for the family. Four young children have lost their father.”
The trial heard Fotheringham was overheard in a chip shop in Alyth, speaking about how he had “stabbed the f*** out of someone”.
He said “we went too far” and spoke about how he would receive a long jail sentence.
The divorced father of two, from the Blairgowrie area, later told police: “Everyone f***s up, someone shouldn’t have been so cheeky.”
Winters had said he had broken up a fight between Fotheringham and Mr Donachy at his home, claiming the victim had brought a “red knife”.
He said he went to sleep afterwards, and woke the next morning to find Mr Donachy’s lifeless body.
Winters took Valium and other sleeping pills and went back to bed.
He woke up that evening and called 999. When police arrived at his home, they found Winters “extremely upset”.
Hand prints from both men were found in bloodstains close to Mr Donachy’s body.
Fotheringham walked into a police station the next day and said: “It is what it is, I’m turning myself in.”
The court heard Mr Donachy had 15 stab wounds, and there was evidence he had been hit by a baseball bat or a chair.
After the verdict, jurors heard that Winters and Fotheringham had extensive criminal records.