Three teens who left schoolboy with brain damage in train murder bid sentenced to detention

Three teenagers who savagely tried to murder a schoolboy on a busy train in Glasgow have been sentenced to detention with the oldest collapsing in the court dock.

The trio, who were aged 16, 15 and 13, chased their target and after he stumbled and fell he was repeatedly kicked, stamped and jumped on with the 13-year-old victim ending up unconscious.

The victim sustained a significant and traumatic brain injury in the attempted murder attack on a train at High Street station on October 15 in 2021 and missed two years of school.

A judge said at the High Court in Edinburgh: “Clearly he will be forever changed by what the three accused did to him.”

Lord Scott told the trio that the main consideration in sentencing them was the violent and unprovoked nature of the attempted murder and its lasting consequences.

The judge told them: “Notwithstanding your young age and encouraging signs of rehabilitation the gravity of the crime is such that only a custodial sentence is appropriate.”

He sentenced the two younger youths to three years and nine months detention each and imposed three years and 11 months detention on the older teenager.

The judge emphasised that the sentences he imposed were significantly less than they would have been for older offenders.

As the judge continued to address them the older attacker slumped forward in the dock and collapsed bringing proceedings to an end as aid was sought for him.

Lord Scott had told the teenagers for their victim his life has been dramatically altered and will never be the same.

His mother wrote: “My son went out that day and a stranger woke up.”

The trio pled guilty to attempting to murder the schoolboy earlier this year at the High Court in Glasgow, with the younger teenagers offering guilty pleas before the older youth tendered his guilty plea.

They launched the attack on the victim shortly after he got on the train at the High Street station and footage of the attack was caught on camera.

Advocate depute Lorraine Glancy KC said that soon after the victim and friend boarded the train one of the trio was heard saying: “Let’s do this.”

They ran towards the 13-year-old and pursued him before launching the brutal attack on him. The prosecutor said one of the assailants used train seats to get leverage during the attack.

A woman appeared to angrily confront them before the trio left the train at the city’s Bellgrove station. Footage captured two of them hugging each other as they left.

Other passengers went to help the attack victim before emergency crews arrived. The teenager suffered a fractured collarbone, bruising and swelling as well as the serious brain injury.

The mother of the oldest of the attackers contacted police after her son confessed to his involvement. He admitted to officers that he “stamped” on a boy’s head but added: “There was loads of us – not just me.”

After the youth collapsed during the sentencing hearing the case was later recalled with all three accused in the dock.

Lord Scott said he understood the teenager who collapsed was seen by ambulance personnel.

The judge proceeded to make a non harassment order prohibiting them approaching, contacting or communicating with the victim of the attack for an indefinite period.