Pair murdered drug dealer after funeral

A MAN was yesterday convicted of murdering a drug dealer he blamed for supplying an ecstasy tablet that killed his teenage friend.

Dean Melnyk, 20, and co-accused Andrew Brown, 23 – who pleaded guilty to murder last week – stabbed Kevin MacKay 27 times hours after the funeral of Jamie Abba.

Melnyk and Brown believed Mr MacKay, 39, had supplied the pill that killed Mr Abba, 19, known as Jabba.

Melnyk, from Lockerbie, Dumfriesshire, told jurors he was ‘drunk and angry’ when he and Brown went to Ecclefechan, Dumfriesshire, on August 22 last year and attacked Mr MacKay, known as Kesty.

The court heard that at Mr Abba’s wake Melnyk got angrier and Brown, known as Buster, spoke to him. Melnyk said: ‘Buster said, “We’ll give Kesty a kicking” to cheer me up.’

He told the court the two got a lift to Ecclefechan and after going into another house in the village, Brown led him to where Mr MacKay was staying. He added: ‘We had a knife each. I saw Buster stabbing Kesty. Buster was shouting, “You killed Jabba, Kesty.” Kesty grabbed my leg. Buster kicked him off and I began stabbing Kesty.’

The court heard that after the killing Melnyk went to a friend’s house in Lockerbie and told him: ‘I think I’ve killed Kesty.’

As the verdict of murder against Melnyk was delivered, Mr MacKay’s family and friends applauded.

Both men are facing life sentences and Judge Lord Armstrong deferred sentence until June.

Melnyk denied murder but admitted culpable homicide on the grounds of diminished responsibility. This was rejected by the jury.

Minutes after pleading guilty to murder last week, Brown shouted to Mr MacKay’s daughter Chelsea in the public gallery: ‘I had never meant to murder Kesty.’