Double killer dies from coronavirus

A notorious Paisley killer has died after contracting coronavirus behind bars.

Violent Francis McCarthy was jailed for life in February 1985 for the senseless murder of Thomas McKirdy with a blade.

Seven years earlier, he was convicted of killing trainee painter and decorator Thomas Mellon, 18, through the heart with a penknife.

It has been revealed McCarthy, now 59, became the second prisoner in Scotland to die from Covid-19 while serving time.

McCarthy, an inmate at HMP Low Moss, near Glasgow, was admitted to hospital after displaying symptoms of the virus and later died.

It is understood he had significant underlying health conditions.

McCarthy was convicted of murdering his friend Mr McKirdy, of Logan Drive, Paisley, in 1985 and sentenced to life in prison.

During the murder trial at the High Court, no clear reason was given as to why McCarthy, then 24, savagely stabbed Mr McKirdy, who died later in hospital.

McCarthy had also previously been convicted of killing Mr Mellon in 1977.

Mr Mellon was walking to shops in Ferguslie Park Avenue, Paisley, when McCarthy stabbed him through the heart with a penknife.

McCarthy was just 16 when he was handed a five-year term at a Young Offenders’ Institution for killing Thomas.

The pair had clashed a week earlier and it is believed the row was over a girl Mr Mellon had been dating.

Mr Mellon, of Scadlock Road, Ferguslie Park, even bore the scars of that incident as he was laid to rest at Paisley’s Hawkhead Cemetery by his dad Michael and sisters Teresa, Mary and Elizabeth.

Mr Mellon’s family believed had McCarthy been convicted of murder, rather then culpable homicide, he would not have gone on to kill again.

The short stretch behind bars failed to rid of him of his violent ways and, in February 1985, he was jailed for life for the coldblooded murder of 26-year-old Mr McKirdy.

He was released by the parole board in 2002 and tried to pick up the pieces of his life and start afresh.

But he was jailed again following a violent row with his then partner Sandra Campbell at the home they shared in Montgomery Avenue, Gallowhill, Paisley, on December 6, 2009.

The couple had an argument over Christmas decorations they were putting up and McCarthy brandished a knife at her and punched her on the body as she lay in bed.

McCarthy’s licence was recalled and he was jailed for four months over the assault.