Man beat neighbour to death after row over noise

A man has been convicted of murdering a neighbour by beating him to death in a row over noise.

Groundworker William Nimmo, 34, climbed over a six-foot fence to get to 56-year-old Robert Clelland – who was known as Stuart – and then brutally attacked him, fracturing his skull, breaking his ribs and inflicting horrific facial fractures.

Nimmo was found guilty at the High Court in Glasgow of murdering Mr Clelland at Wallace Street, Galston, just before midnight on July 23, 2019.

The court heard that Nimmo, who is 6ft 2in and weighed 16 stone at the time, had been playing music and using power tools in the garden of his mother’s home, where he was staying.

He went into a rage when Mr Clelland, a former shoe factory foreman, who was working shifts, confronted him about the noise.

William Nimmo has been convicted of murdering Robert Clelland. Police Scotland

In evidence, Nimmo admitted killing Mr Clelland, but denied murdering him and claimed that Mr Clelland struck the first blow.

The court heard that, after the attack, Nimmo drove off in Mr Clelland’s van before abandoning it in nearby Bentinck Square.

Judge Lord Mulholland told Nimmo: “This was a brutal murder on a man who was of slim frame and had done nothing to you other than telling you to keep the noise down.

“Be under no illusions about what is coming your way.”

Nimmo, who has 24 previous convictions, including five for violence, will serve a life sentence for murder and the punishment part will be determined next month at the High Court in Livingston.

Pathologist Dr John Williams said Mr Clelland died from blunt-force trauma

Nimmo was cleared during the trial of attempting to defeat the ends of justice by dragging Mr Clelland’s body from the courtyard into the hallway of his home.