DOUBLE KILLER MIGHT NEVER GET OUT
Brute who killed his partner and brother is given minimum of 30 years in prison
A DOUBLE murderer jailed for life after brutally killing his partner and his brother has been warned he might never be freed.
Peter duffy must serve at least 30 years in prison before he can be considered for release following the murders of Emma Baillie, 26, and John Paul duffy, 51, in 2022.
A judge told him: “depending on the question of risk, you may never be released.”
Lord Scott told him: “Both your victims were vulnerable and were known by you to be vulnerable.
“The murders occurred within a short time of each other, almost exactly two years ago. You stabbed both of your victims and Emma Baillie was also throttled.
“Even after you murdered them your victims were shown no respect and afforded no dignity.” Instead duffy left them to decompose.
Lord Scott pointed out that Emma had been due to appear as a witness against duffy in a separate assault case at Airdrie Sheriff Court on March 17, 2022, but he had already killed her by then. He added: “Whether that was why you murdered her may never be known but the timing seems more than just a coincidence.
“As you put it in one of your messages, having murdered her, in effect, you had one less thing to worry about.”
He told duffy: “In convicting you the jury unanimously rejected your claim of your brother being responsible for killing Emma Baillie and your claim of having acted in self defence when you killed your brother.”
duffy, who was previously jailed for serious assault, was subject to three bail orders at the time of the killings.
The court heard a report prepared on him assessed him as posing the maximum risk of further offending.
duffy strangled and repeatedly struck his partner Emma with a knife between March 4 and April 12, 2022 at his home in Calder Street, Coatbridge, Lanarkshire.
He repeatedly stabbed John Paul and hid the body under rubbish at his flat, at High Coats, between March 29 and April 10, 2022.
The murderer also killed his brother’s cat with an axe.
duffy was found guilty of committing the murders at a trial earlier this year at the High Court in glasgow.
It heard police attended John Paul’s flat to carry out a welfare check on him on April 10. officers forced entry and discovered the dead cat in a pool of blood in the hallway.
duffy was found on a couch in a sleeping bag and they discovered the older brother’s body hidden under a pile of rubbish on another couch.
PC Emma gibney said: “He looked as if he had been there for a period of time due to the state of decomposition.”
detective Constable Nicola Batton told the court police searched duffy’s home two days later and found Emma’s body covered in clothing at the bottom of a couch.
duffy had pretended to be Emma’s stepfather in March to claim £198 of benefits on her behalf.
defending, george gebbie said duffy, 48, had suffered difficulties in life and described his childhood as “hell”.
Emma’s dad, Stuart Baillie, 57, and stepmother Carol Austin, 56, previously said officers should have gone all out to locate Emma after her no-show for the original trial.
Carol said: “If someone had gone looking for Emma when she failed to appear at court, although it may not have changed Emma’s outcome, it could certainly have saved the life of John Paul duffy.”
You showed your dead victims no dignity
LORD SCOTT IN SENTENCING REMARKS TO DUFFY