Teen knived man 8 times
Went home covered in blood with knife hanging out pocket
A teenager has been convicted of killing a stranger by stabbing him eight times after his mum handed him over to cops.
Eighteen- year- old Graeme Bell came home covered in blood and with a kitchen knife hanging out his trouser pocket on the day he killed 48-yearold dad- of- one Patrick Ferguson in Midcroft Avenue, Croftfoot, on February 19 last year.
Bell is facing a lengthy sentence after being found guilty at the High Court in Glasgow of the culpable homicide
He was originally charged with murder, but convicted of the lesser charge after trial.
At the High Court in Glasgow Bell was also convicted of carrying a knife.
Prosecutor David Taylor said that Bell has four previous convictions including one for assault to injury for which he received a 12- month sentence.
In evidence, his mother Pauline Bell, 58, said her son came home in the early hours of the morning covered in blood.
She said: “I opened the door to him and walked up the stairs behind him. His clothes were heavily stained. I noticed there was a knife hanging out of Graeme’s trouser pocket. There was blood on the knife.
“I took it from his pocket and said ‘I’m going to call the police’. I didn’t want him to go anywhere. I wanted him to stay until the police arrived.”
Bell claimed through his legal team that he was acting in self-defence.
It was claimed he had gone to see Mr Ferguson after he was texted by the older man and offered cannabis in return for sexual favours.
The court heard that Bell had recently changed his mobile phone and did not know Mr Ferguson.
Bell said he took a knife from his mother’s kitchen with him because he was fearful of meeting with Mr Ferguson in the early hours.
Bell claimed that Mr Ferguson, who was 5ft 11in and weighed 17 and a half stones, had jumped on top of him.
His defence QC Donald Findlay claimed Bell had lashed out with the knife.
But the jury did not believe he was acting in self defence.
The jury heard that Bell stole a quantity of cannabis resin from Mr Ferguson that night.
Electrician Gareth Thomas, 41, told the jury he was wakened around 2.30am and heard a man’s voice shouting: “Phone the police. I need help. He’s got a knife.”
He ran out into the street and found Mr Ferguson fatally wounded in the street.
Pathologist Dr Gemma Kemp told the court the wound that killed Mr Ferguson went through the sac round his heart, damaged a major artery and went through the lobe of his lung and into the top of his liver.
Mr Ferguson’s DNA was found on the knife and on Bell’s blood soaked clothes.
Mr Ferguson’s 77-yearold mother, Elizabeth Ferguson, said that when she woke up on February 19, 2016, her son was missing.
She said when she walked down the street to get messages she was told someone had been killed.
However, it was two days before she was told her son had been stabbed to death.
Mr Taylor told the court that Mr Ferguson was his mother’s carer and she has now moved to sheltered accommodation.
Judge Lady Stacey deferred sentence on Bell until February 24 at the High Court in Edinburgh for background reports.
Bell waved to his family and friends as he was led away to begin his sentence.
Phone the police, I need help . . .
Witness