Man died after being stabbed through heart with his own knife

Alexander McLennan: Died after a row broke out.

A man died after being stabbed through the heart with his own knife during a street brawl.

Alexander McLennan, 56, died following the clash at Dundee's Kingsway on January 7.

Ross Ramsay, 30, John Cassidy, 31, and Steven Batchelor, 31, were originally accused of murdering Mr McLennan.

But at the High Court in Edinburgh on Wednesday pleas to lesser charges were accepted by the Crown.

Cassidy pleaded guilty to culpable homicide and Ramsay and Batchelor admitted seriously assaulting Mr McLennan of Longtown Place, Dundee.

Not guilty pleas a charge of attacking and robbing William McLennan, jnr, and to attempting to defeat the ends of justice by disposing of evidence after the fight were accepted.

The three men, who all have records for violence, had been freed on bail after an appearance at Dundee Sheriff Court on January 5.

Following their arrest on the murder charge on January 10, all three have been held in Perth Prison pending their appearance at the High Court in Edinburgh on Wednesday.

Judge Lord Bracadale told them he wanted time to consider the case and the three are due back in court on Thursday to face sentence.

Advocate depute Douglas Fairley, prosecuting, said: "The origin of the offences appeared to lie in an ongoing dispute between the three accused on the one hand and members of the deceased's family, including the deceased, on the other."

The court also heard that the two sides had met days before the killing to try to solve their differences, but the meeting ended in blows.

Mr Fairley described how trouble began on January 7, when Donna-Marie McCallum, a niece of Alexander McLennan began shouting and swearing at Batchelor about previous incidents.

Mr McLennan arrived on the scene and, during an exchange of words, Batchelor denied any involvement in previous trouble.

"Do you want to go for a walk and get this sorted out?" he asked.

The other man told Batchelor he wanted his friends instead.

Batchelor met up with Ramsay and Cassidy at Ramsay's home where one of the three said: "That uncle (McLennan) says our throats are getting slit."

The three men ran from the house to nearby Kingsway East where a fight broke out.

The prosecutor said at some stage a knife appeared and the Crown could not refute Cassidy's claim that it was Alexander McLennan who produced the weapon.

As the three ran away, Cassidy was overheard by a member of the public.

"I'm no caring if he is 55 years old. If anybody comes at me with a bread knife, I'll stab them."

Mr Fairley said no knife had ever been found and the only scientific evidence was blood on Ramsay's trainers which matched Mr McLennan's DNA.

Defence QC Brian McConnachie said Cassidy had been slashed by Alexander McLennan and had been treated in hospital.

He said: "In the course of the assault the deceased produced a knife and used it on Cassidy, causing the injury which was seen by the casualty surgeon. Cassidy engaged in further struggle with the accused and disarmed him.

"He accepts that at that point he was the person in possession of the knife and he inflicted two wounds on the deceased which effectively caused his death."

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