A man who strangled and stabbed his girlfriend has been cleared of murder after a judge ruled he was insane at the time of the killing.
Mark Jarvie, 22, was suffering from schizophrenia when he killed Jane Kelly, also 22, in the bedroom of his family home in Powmill, Kinross, on October 28 last year.
Lord Tyre instructed a jury at the High Court in Aberdeen to find him not guilty after psychiatrists concluded he had suffered a "total alienation of reason".
A joint minute was read to the jury, agreed by both sides in the case, which said that Jarvie had carried out the killing. The judge instructed the jurors to find Jarvie not guilty in what he called a "most distressing" case.
Outside court Miss Kelly's family questioned why their daughter was not informed of his condition.
Graeme Kelly, 49, a solicitor from St Andrews, said: "We as a family continue to grieve. We cannot come to terms with why Mark Jarvie perpetuated such a wicked, pointless and senseless act.
"We have listened to all the psychiatrists' evidence and we are being asked to accept that Jarvie was, and remains, very ill.
"Nevertheless, we will never understand why he did what he did, nor can we forgive."
It emerged in court that Jarvie's parents had returned from the airport just before they were due to fly out to Thailand after their son claimed he had cut himself in the leg in the kitchen.
Jarvie phoned them and said he had "gone a bit crazy". He was referred to Dr Gyda Meeten at his local medical practice, who concluded that Jarvie was in need of a medical assessment but did not meet the criteria for detention under mental health legislation.
Later in the day he met Miss Kelly, a fine art student at Duncan of Jordanstone College in Dundee, at Inverkeithing train station and took her back to his parents' home.
The next day his parents walked into Jarvie's room to find Miss Kelly lying dead on the bed fully clothed. She had been strangled and stabbed in the head.
Jarvie was sitting on the floor naked with his hands around her neck. He muttered something about Alan Sugar and shouted at his parents to "get out of my house".
Mrs Jarvie called paramedics but nothing could be done to save Miss Kelly.
Her father said he hoped they would one day learn the truth about why it had happened and why their daughter had been allowed to be placed in such danger.
He added: "There were concerns about him in the days leading up to this - why was Jane in that situation?
"Why was she exposed to such danger when people had such concerns?"
In court defence lawyer Ian Duguid QC said Jarvie felt "extreme sorrow, regrets and remorse" for what happened.
He added: "He has to live with this tragedy every day of his life."
To leave a comment, please sign in.