Two men who attacked Chinese students in violent rampage jailed for total of 16 years

Two men who attacked a group of Chinese students for more than an hour have been jailed for a total of more than 16 years.

Liam Murphy and Bradley Lawrie were told by a judge that their “rampage” will leave people thinking “long and hard” about coming to Glasgow city centre.

The pair carried out eight assaults on strangers on September 14, 2025.

On Tuesday, Murphy, 19, and Lawrie, 20, were sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow, having earlier admitted their guilt.

Murphy, 19, denied being a racist as “white people were also attacked”.

Meanwhile, Lawrie, 20, insisted he was not a bigot as he had a friend from Iran.

Murphy was locked up for nine years, and Lawrie seven and a half years at Tuesday’s hearing.

Lord Cubie told them: “Every person will think long and hard now about visiting Glasgow city centre.

“Your offending was indiscriminate, presenting a substantial threat to public safety in an area already giving rise to concern because of the apparent prevalence of anti-social behaviour of exactly this type.

“I stand as a judge dealing with cases of city centre violence in Glasgow in excess of 15 years.

“This is the worst example I have encountered of sustained, wanton, violent and disruptive offending.

“You should both be ashamed of yourselves. This seems to have been a decision to go on the rampage.

“It must be a significant sentence to reflect the nature of the offending as well as the damage to victims and the harm to society.”

The pair will also be supervised for a further two years on their release.

A woman – believed to be the mother of one of the men – raced out of the courtroom in tears as sentencing was passed.

Prosecutor Shanti Maguire told how the attacks occurred over a period of four and a half hours that evening.

The court heard how the students had arrived in the city at 7pm.

Around 8.30pm, the men were startled by the sound of bottles smashing as they walked on St Vincent Street.

Ms Maguire said: “[One of the victims] observed Murphy and Lawrie shouting at the group.

“He could not understand all of what was being said, but could hear they were shouting ‘c****y’ from across the street.”

The thugs confronted the students before punching and pushing them.

One man was repeatedly hit on the head, Murphy headbutted another, and also struck one man on the mouth.

The duo then grabbed glass bottles from a nearby bin and started hurling them at the frightened men.

One man was hit three times by the weapons, causing a cut to the head, blurred vision and bruising to his shoulder. Another man was also struck.

Ms Maguire said: “Murphy and Lawrie then approached the group shouting ‘f***ing c****s’ amongst other aggressive words.”

One man was left scarred for life from the head wound. Two others had lip injuries. The fourth man escaped being physically hurt.

The assailants had already attacked their first victim that night.

The victim was chased before being pushed outside the Sir John Moore pub in Glasgow’s Argyle Street.

Both punched and kicked him before they fled into nearby Hope Street.

The man suffered a number of wounds to his head.

After the assaults on the students, Murphy turned on a stranger near Buchanan Street as he walked to a bar with a friend.

Murphy kicked the man to the ground then smashed a beer bottle over his head.

This victim ended up with a cut to his forehead.

Another man was at Glasgow Central Station when he was pushed and tripped up as he tried to walk past the Murphy and Lawrie.

Murphy then booted this victim as he lay on the ground.

The victim got to his feet before Lawrie struggled with him and Murphy punched him again, causing him to tumble backwards and hit a railing.

Ms Maguire said: “Murphy and Lawrie then repeatedly kicked and stamped on [the man’s] head and body while he lay motionless on the ground.

“Lawrie walked away. However, Murphy ran back and stamped again on [him].”

After the pair ran off, police found the bloodied victim still on the ground with a number of obvious injuries.

He had three broken ribs, fluid around the lungs, a suspected fractured nose and a “golf ball sized” swelling at his right eye.

The final attack that evening was on a hotel worker. He was pounced upon near the station as Murphy demanded his phone and cigarettes.

The man refused, but was then punched and had a glass bottle chucked at him.

In a separate incident on April 26 this year, Murphy assaulted a man with a vodka bottle after being told to get out of a house in the city’s Easterhouse.

Murphy pled guilty to nine mostly aggravated assault charges, while Lawrie admitted a total of seven.

The offences involving the Chinese students were deemed to be racist due to the ethnicity of the victims.

Murphy’s lawyer Graham Macdonald said: “He knows that the reaction of the court will be one of horror and displeasure.”

Allan MacLeod, defending Lawrie, stated he claimed to have “little recollection of these events”.

Sentencing, Lord Cubie added victims remain badly affected both physically and mentally by their ordeals.