Police ScotlandA teenager who confessed to being “out of control” has been jailed for six and a half years for battering a man to death.
The then 15-year-old turned on Scott Mitchell after spotting him kissing a woman in a back garden.
The assailant punched and kicked the 48-year-old father-of-two during the attack in Alness in the Highlands on June 17, 2023.
The teenager only stopped when a witness dragged him off Mr Mitchell.
The boy – now aged 17 and cannot be identified due to his age – appeared in the dock at the High Court in Glasgow.
He had previously admitted to the culpable homicide of Mr Mitchell during a hearing in Inverness last month.
‘Savage and merciless’
Lord Arthurson branded the killing “savage and merciless”.
The court previously heard how Mr Mitchell – a BT engineer – had been with the woman after they met that night at the Station Bar in Alness.
Prosecutor Graeme Jessop said: “They got a taxi and went into the garden and sat on a swing chair.
“Mr Mitchell kissed her and initiated sexual contact.”
The teenager then spotted the pair around midnight as he walked home after drinking at a friend’s house.
He perceived she was being sexually assaulted and repeatedly punched Mr Mitchell on the face.
Mr Jessop added: “A neighbour heard his (the teenager’s) screams of anger and shouted at him to leave Mr Mitchell alone.
“He stopped briefly and then replied: ‘He is a pervert’. He continued to punch and kick Mr Mitchell.”
Mr Mitchell – a keen runner and cyclist who had raised thousands for local charities – passed away having suffered blunt force facial injuries.
Police found the teenager soaked in blood in a nearby park, where he broke down and claimed he thought the woman was being sexually assaulted.
He told officers: “I have an anger problem which I can control normally.
“But seeing what I did, there was no chance.”
The teenager had originally faced a murder allegation before prosecutors accepted his guilty plea to the reduced charge.
Donald Findlay KC, defending, said the attacker “misread” the situation with Mr Mitchell and the woman that night with “appalling consequences”
The advocate added that the teenager was now “absolutely distraught” at what he had done.
Sentencing, Lord Arthurson told the killer: “This was a savage, sustained and merciless case of sheer brutality.
“You punched and kicked your victim to death.
“You battered his face to a pulp while you were, as you later stated, out of control with anger.
“As you embark on your sentence, you will do well to remember this – Mr Mitchell died a terrible and violent, lonely death.
“One day you will complete your sentence and return home to resume your life – that prospect has been wholly denied for Mr Mitchell and his grieving family entirely due to your appalling behaviour.”
The dad’s family previously said he was “loved by all who knew him”.
In a tribute, they added: “We are devastated at the senseless loss of Scott.”
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