Grindr murder: David Bain jailed for life after stabbing Clifford Anderson in heart in Aberdeen

A man who murdered his victim after meeting him through a dating app in Aberdeen has been jailed for life.

Drink and drug-fuelled David Bain, 28, stabbed railway employee Clifford Anderson in the heart before abandoning the victim in his flat during August 2020.

A judge ordered that Bain should serve a minimum of 16 years in prison before he is eligible to seek release following the murder.

Lord Boyd of Duncansby told him at the High Court in Edinburgh: “In the early hours of the morning of August 23, 2020, you arranged to meet him (Mr Anderson) through a dating website and went to his house.

“You had consensual sexual relations with him following which you stabbed him once through the heart, as a result of which he died.”

Lord Boyd said according to Bain he took two knives from a kitchen drawer with the intention of inflicting self-harm and was on the way out of the flat when Mr Anderson came up behind him and he then made a stabbing motion towards the victim.

The judge told Bain he had no reason to take the knives and no reason to fend off Mr Anderson who he did nothing to help after the stabbing.

Lord Boyd told the former labourer and slaughterhouse worker: “Your actions that night were brutal and callous.

“You have struggled with mental health issues and addiction for some time, as well as issues about your own sexuality.”

Bain was seen outside in the street with a can of lager after the fatal attack in the city’s Jasmine Terrace shouting: “I have stabbed him.”

Blood samples from Bain tested positive for alcohol, cocaine and diazepam in the wake of the killing.

Bain had earlier denied murdering Mr Anderson, 60, but was convicted of the crime, which carries a mandatory life sentence, last month.

He arrived at the rail worker’s home in the early hours of the morning after they made contact through the Grindr app before stabbing him in the heart, which resulted in rapid and profuse blood loss.

The court heard that when a paramedic arrived at the victim’s home police officers were giving him CPR, but he was in cardiac arrest and unresponsive.

A trauma team was dispatched to help and Mr Anderson was taken to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, but life was later pronounced extinct.

Bain disposed of the two knives he took from Mr Anderson’s home in a bin but was still found to be in possession of a multi-tool with blades when he was detained by police.

Defence solicitor advocate Kris Gilmartin told the court that Bain has a criminal record but it was not extensive and he has never previously served a jail sentence.

He said: “He wishes to express he is truly and deeply remorseful for what took place and he has struggled to come to terms with the enormity of his actions.”

Mr Gilmartin said: “David Bain has suffered years of struggling with alcohol and substance addiction.”

“He carries the burden of causing the death of a man to whom he harbours no ill will and that is a burden he will carry for the rest of his life, ” he told the court.