Man stabbed friend to death over ‘that’s not what yer ma said’ joke

'Senseless' murder: Man found guilty at High Court in Livingston.© STV

A man murdered his friend because he was offended by a bad joke about his mother.

Derek Kinghorn, 44, stabbed Brian Mair to death for quipping “That’s not what yer ma said” during a conversation.

Kinghorn told the High Court at Livingston: "I found it offensive. He didn't know my mother and I found it disrespectful to talk about someone else's mother. I love and respect my mother and I don't like someone saying anything about her."

A jury found Kinghorn guilty of murdering Dunfermline-born Mr Mair, 45, on Wednesday.

Outside court, Mr Mair’s partner Amy Michaels, 46, said: "Brian was a jokey guy and no one took offence at the things he said. Everybody loved him."

Mr Mair's mother Emily Paton and his stepfather John said they were pleased with the majority verdict.

Mrs Paton, 67, added: "It was a just verdict. I just wanted him to be found guilty for Brian's sake. No one will ever know why it went to the stage it did."

Deferring sentence, temporary judge Michael O'Grady told Kinghorn he had been convicted of a "dreadful" crime.

He said: "It is a crime which is as cruel as it is senseless and inhumane. You have taken the life of someone you have called a friend for reasons I suspect no one can even begin to fathom. No sentence I can pass can bring any comfort to his son or to the family and friends of Mr Mair.

"There is only one sentence I can impose and that is one of life imprisonment but, given your record, I consider it necessary to obtain background reports before passing sentence."

Kinghorn, who attacked his friend of ten years at his flat in Hawick on November 1, 2011, made a triumphant gesture to his friends and family as he was led to the cells.

During the eight-day trial, the jury was told that Kinghorn, who last worked a decade ago, had consumed ten cans of beer and smoked several cannabis joints with his friend earlier on the day of the murder.

After the joke, he went to the kitchen, grabbed an eight-inch knife and brandished it in Mr Mair's face, cutting him below the eye.

When Mr Mair smashed a tumbler on Kinghorn's head in retaliation, the accused sliced open the main artery in Mr Mair's groin with the kitchen knife then pushed him onto a sofa and stabbed him repeatedly on the body. One stab wound pierced Mr Mair's shoulder blade, passed right through his lung and severed the main vein leading to his heart.

Mr Mair bled to death despite efforts by Ms Michael and a team of paramedics to save him.

Kinghorn had denied repeatedly striking Mr Mair on the head and body with a knife, threatening to kill him and murdering him. He was acquitted of stabbing Ms Michaels and causing her severe injury and permanent disfigurement after the Crown withdrew the charge.

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