Teenagers who beat pensioner to death jailed for life

Three teenagers who battered a vulnerable pensioner to death in his own home have been jailed for life.

Keirin McMillan, now 20, was ordered to serve at least 18 years behind bars after killing 67-year-old Alasdair Forsyth in a “brutal” assault in which the victim suffered a catalogue of injuries.

He was 19 at the time of the murder.

His younger brother Aron, now 17, was 16 when he took part in the attack. He was ordered to serve a minimum of 17 years and three months.

His friend Levi Hunter was ordered to serve at least 17 years for the killing.

Hunter, now 16, was just 15 when he took part in the murder and robbery of Mr Forsyth at the flat in Edinburgh where he lived alone.

On Friday, a judge told the trio at the High Court in Edinburgh: “Mr Forsyth suffered the most terrible injuries. He sustained a total of 80 injuries and died of blunt force chest trauma.”

Lord Uist added: “It is a scandal in a supposedly civilised society that a man should meet his death in this manner.

“The attack on Mr Forsyth was a planned robbery in which each of you took a tool to be used as a weapon, namely a screwdriver, a wrench and a hammer, and battered him to death in his home.”

The court heard that police officers were called to the flat in Prestonfield on the evening of February 21, 2019, following neighbour complaints of an incident.

On arrival, they met the three teenagers coming down the stairs. A hammer, a wrench, a screwdriver and a mobile phone were dropped to the floor.

Mr Forsyth was found with serious injuries to his head and body. Efforts were made to resuscitate him, but he died at the scene.

The judge said it was concerning that the older McMillan brother had previously broken into the home of a senior citizen in 2015 and assaulted and robbed him while acting with others.

McMillan was originally given a Community Payback Order for that crime.

Lord Uist told the older brother that it was clear he was “the leader of this gang of thugs”.

He said: “You lied about your involvement in the crime and have shown no remorse.”

The judge told the younger brother, who was on bail at the time of the murder, that there had been concerns about his violent behaviour since he was six-years-old.

Lord Uist said to Hunter: “Although you are the youngest of the three you were by no means a young innocent led astray.”

He pointed out that Hunter has been taking drugs since the age of 11 and at the time was in care and subject to a compulsory supervision order.

The judge said he was satisfied that it was in the interests of justice that any report of the court proceedings should be able to reveal the names of the two younger murderers.

Up until Friday, they could not be identified because they were offenders aged under 18.

The McMillan brothers and Hunter had earlier denied murdering Mr Forsyth, a former Edinburgh University student.

All three were found guilty of the crime following a trial last year and the two younger killers were also convicted of a violent crime spree in the days leading up to the murder in which children and adults were attacked in Edinburgh.

David Green, Procurator Fiscal for major crime and homicide, said: “This was a brutal, sustained attack using weapons on a vulnerable 67-year-old man in his own home.

“The motive appears to have been robbery and it is clear they had no qualms about using violence and have shown no remorse for their actions.

“The swift response of the police led to the capture of these three criminals at the scene, obtaining key evidence that allowed the prosecution to put forward a strong case and ultimately protecting the wider community from their violent behaviour.”