The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
THE MURDER THAT SHOCKED A COMMUNITY:
Steven Dickie, Callum Davidson and Tasmin Glass behind bars and awaiting sentence for their roles in the death of Steven Donaldson
All three of the killers of Angus man Steven Donaldson were finally behind bars last night, after being convicted of one of the most horrific crimes the region has ever seen.
Best friends Steven Dickie and Callum Davidson will serve life sentences, having been found guilty by majority of murdering the 27-year-old oil industry worker from Arbroath last summer.
Tasmin Glass, who lured the father of her four-month-old son to Kirriemuir Hill on the night of June 6, was convicted of culpable homicide on the unanimous decision of the jury at the High Court in Edinburgh.
She had been out on bail until yesterday but judge Lord Pentland rejected her bid to stay out of prison while the killers await sentence, saying it was in the public interest that she should be remanded.
The verdicts came late yesterday afternoon on the 22nd day of the case, and following almost 10 hours of deliberation by the jury of eight women and seven men.
They had heard harrowing evidence of how the popular and handsome offshore worker was attacked by Dickie
Miss Glass will have to get used to the fact that she will be separated from her son for a very significant period of time. ADVOCATE TIM NIVEN-SMITH
and Davidson at Kirriemuir’s Peter Pan playpark after Glass arranged to meet him there to discuss their failing relationship.
She sped off as the first blows rained down and was in her home nearby within minutes, leaving the horrific murder to unfold.
From the playpark, Mr Donaldson was driven in his own car to Kinnordy Loch nature reserve, near Kirriemuir, where the two male accused carried out a sustained attack that left him with 26 stab wounds and his spinal cord severed in two places.
He was then dragged across the car park and placed underneath his BMW, before it was set on fire.
The blaze was so intense the vehicle collapsed on to him and burned his legs beyond recognition.
Photographs of the scene and his injuries were so distressing they caused one member of the jury to collapse.
The murderous pair walked back to Kirriemuir, before Davidson cycled back to the reserve to hunt for parts of a baseball bat which had snapped during the attack. His 2am journey was captured on CCTV and the blood DNA of his victim was later detected on the handlebars of his mountain bike.
Mr Donaldson’s mutilated body was discovered the following morning by an RSPB warden and colleagues as they arrived to carry out a bird survey at the beauty spot.
Dickie, Davidson and Glass will be sentenced on May 30.
Lord Pentland told the two men they had been found guilty of a “savage and depraved” murder.
He described Steven Donaldson as a “loved and respected young man who had done neither of you any harm”.
Addressing Glass, Lord Pentland said she had been found guilty of the “extremely serious offence of culpable homicide”.
He rejected an application by defence advocate Tim Niven-Smith for her bail to be continued.
Mr Niven-Smith told the court Glass recognised that the jury’s verdict meant custody was inevitable following the preparation of a background report on the first offender.
“Your lordship might ordinarily take the view she should be remanded in custody today. I am instructed to move for bail,” he said.
“Miss Glass will have to get used to the fact that she will be separated from her son for a very significant period of time in light of the verdict.”
None of the accused showed any emotion as they were led from the dock.
Glass failed to even acknowledge her parents, who were sitting just feet away in the public seating of Court Three.
Lord Pentland said he would reserve further observations on the “dreadful killing” until his sentencing statements, when Dickie and Davidson will also learn the minimum number of years they will serve.
He said that would include “close consideration” of the victim impact statements before the court.
His judge thanked the jury for their diligence in fulfilling the “exceptionally challenging and onerous public service”.
He said they had been faced with “harrowing and distressing” evidence in a complex case.