Heroin dealer murdered father after trying to sell him pepper

A heroin dealer murdered a father after trying to sell him pepper instead of the class-A drug.

Ismail Burnett was jailed for life for murdering 40-year-old James Bruce in the attack on Halloween.

On Tuesday the High Court in Edinburgh heard how Burnett, 39, claimed he was full of remorse for the killing in Boddam, Aberdeenshire.

He had planned to sell Mr Bruce a bag of pepper instead of heroin. When they met up to complete the drug deal, a fight broke out between the pair in the street which resulted in the fatal stabbing.

Lord Bannatyne said he had no other option but to jail Burnett and ordered him to serve at least 16 years in prison before he would become eligible for parole.

Burnett, a prisoner of HMP Aberdeen, pled guilty to murder during an earlier hearing at the High Court in Aberdeen.

He had gone on trial in Aberdeen in April this year and had originally pled not guilty to murdering Mr Bruce. However, he decided to admit his guilt after seeing his victim's 20-year-old son Shaun break down as he gave evidence.

Defence advocate Shelagh McCall told the court: "He decided to change his plea to guilty after seeing Mr Bruce's son giving evidence in court. It had a profound effect on him. The murder arose as a consequence of Mr Burnett's chaotic lifestyle. He is a drug user and he has expressed remorse for his actions.

"I would ask your lordship to be as lenient with him as he possibly can."

Passing sentence, Lord Bannatyne told Burnett: "There is only one sentence that I can impose and that is a custodial one. This was a dreadful crime. It arose out of supplying the deceased with drugs and then cheating him."

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