A 21-year-old man has been convicted of stabbing an innocent teenage boy to death with a pair of scissors.
Connor McMath struck Sean Ford, 15, in the neck in front of other stunned youngsters.
Prosecutors said Sean had “done nothing” wrong, adding that he was being a peacemaker after a friend had been assaulted at a flat in Wishaw, Lanarkshire on March 7, 2020.
McMath fled the scene leaving his stricken victim, who never survived the attack.
The thug went on to confess to a number of relatives he had “stabbed” someone.
He now faces a life sentence after he was found guilty of murder following a trial at the High Court in Glasgow.
One witness told how McMath was “acting hard” before the killing. He had joined a number of youngsters at the flat along with 18 year-old Derek Paton.
Jurors heard claims it was there Paton assaulted a 15 year-old boy, who was Sean’s friend.
Sean, of Wishaw, came into the room and stated: “What are you doing that for? That’s my pal.”
As the schoolboy then sat down, McMath suddenly lashed out for no apparent reason.
A 13-year-old girl told the trial: “He took scissors out of his pocket and, the next thing I knew, there was blood everywhere.”
As a dying Sean begged for help, the killer fled from the flat.
A 999 call was made as a 14-year-old girl gave Sean CPR. But the teenager died from a stab wound to the neck.
McMath, also of Wishaw, texted his grandfather asking to stay with him. In a message, he stated: “I have stabbed someone in the neck…like an idiot.”
McMath also confessed to his parents. Asked why he had attacked someone, he replied: “Don’t know.”
McMath denied murder, claiming self-defence and that he had not aimed the scissors at Sean.
But in his closing speech, prosecutor Chris McKenna told jurors: “Sean Ford had done nothing to justify what happened to him – far from it.
“The evidence suggests he was trying to calm the situation down.”
Lord Matthews remanded McMath in custody and adjourned sentencing for reports.
The trial had originally taken place in February.
Derek Paton was a co-accused charged with assaulting Sean’s friend. But the case was halted when Paton was killed in a bike accident.
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