Murderer killed 'vulnerable' man while on bail before brother tried to cover it up

A man with 43 previous criminal convictions murdered a vulnerable man in a brutal knife attack while on bail.

Jamie Boulton fatally wounded Garry O’Neill, 59, after striking him on the body with a large knife as he sat on a couch in a flat in Primrose Street in Edinburgh.

His brother, Nathan Boulton, tried to cover up the crime by hiding the murder weapon and clothes worn by his brother during the attack down a drain.

A judge told the older Boulton, 55, at the High Court in Edinburgh: “It was a cowardly attack on a vulnerable man.”

Lady Poole said that victim impact statements prepared by the daughter and former partner of the dead man made it clear he was “much-loved and sorely missed”.

The judge said that given the serious and extensive nature of Jamie Boulton’s criminal record and “the appalling nature of the murder you committed” she would get a background report prepared on him before sentencing next month.

Boulton’s younger brother, 49, tried to stage a cover up after his sibling carried out the murder of Mr O’Neill, 59.

He took the murder weapon and the clothes worn by his brother during the attack and hid them in a drain and a bin in a bid to defeat the ends of justice.

Jamie Boulton, a prisoner in Saughton jail, had denied murdering Mr O’Neill on June 6 but was unanimously found guilty of the crime.

Defence solicitor advocate Iain McSporran KC, for Jamie Boulton, said that following the jury’s verdict there was only one sentence that could be imposed on him and that was life imprisonment.

But he added that the judge would have to fix a punishment part – a minimum term – and might consider seeking a criminal justice social work report before proceeding to sentence.

His younger brother, formerly of Lower Granton Road, Edinburgh, denied the cover up attempt but was also unanimously convicted of his offence.

Lady Poole rejected a move to continue the younger brother’s bail ahead of his sentencing next month and he was remanded in custody.

The court heard that the older Boulton brother had amassed a criminal record of 43 previous convictions, including five assaults – two of which led to him being jailed previously at the High Court.

Lady Poole said: “It is a long record and it is of concern that there is previous knife crime in it.”

The older Boulton brother had been freed on three separate bail orders from Edinburgh Sheriff Court made in September 2021 and September and November the following year when he committed the brutal murder of his victim.

His younger brother retrieved the knife used by him and clothing worn by him from a flat in Lochend Road following the deadly attack.

He put the knife in a drain and clothes in a bin as he tried to conceal or destroy evidence connecting his older brother to the murder and to avoid his detection or arrest.