Gardener was murdered with axe during his tea break

Two brothers and a 15-year-old boy killed a gardener after arming themselves with a knife, an axe and a piece of wood.

At the High Court in Glasgow, David Brookhouse, 38, and his brother John Brookhouse, 35, pleaded guilty to murdering Daniel McGuigan at Stravanan Street, Glasgow, on May 24, 2019.

The 15-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to the reduced charge of the culpable homicide

The court heard that the killers struck as the 35-year-old was having his morning tea break.

Prosecutor Bill McVicar said: “Mr McGuigan lived with his fiancee and he was due to marry her in October 2020.

“He worked for Caledonian Maintenance Service and was working in Castlemilk, carrying out garden maintenance with four colleagues.”

The court heard there was bad feeling between the Brookhouse brothers and Mr McGuigan and that there had been verbal rows between them – the most recent two weeks prior to the killing.

When the brothers saw their intended victim, David Brookhouse said to his brother “Let’s do that c***,” and then added “Let’s get the tools” before grabbing a knife from the kitchen, while his brother picked up an axe.

They left the house after 10am looking for Mr McGuigan and were then joined by the teenager, who was 14 at the time, armed with a piece of wood.

The brothers saw the gardener at his works van and ran towards him. John Brookhouse raised the axe and struck the victim with it, while his brother repeatedly stabbed him.

Mr McGuigan, who was known as Zippy, tried to defend himself by throwing a leaf blower at John Brookhouse and tried to flee.

The brothers, from Glasgow, chased him and were joined by the schoolboy who hit him with a piece of wood.

Mr McGuigan was shouting and screaming and members of the public shouted at the three accused to leave him alone.

The three accused left him laying dying in the street. He was conscious, but not responsive and was pronounced dead at 11.29am.

He was stabbed three times with the fatal wound piercing his heart and causing massive bleeding.

Mr McVicar said: “The force used was such that the blade of the knife broke.”

David Brookhouse has previous convictions for violence and the use of weapons. His brother, who is from Glasgow, has a number of convictions for violence. The teenager has no previous convictions.

The brothers were remanded in custody and the 15-year-old was granted bail.

All three will be sentenced by judge Lady Scott in Edinburgh on March 16.

The family of Mr McGuigan were not allowed into the court to see his killers or hear a narration of the facts in the case.

Lady Scott closed the court to the public because one of the accused is 15.