Killer who murdered man and left another for dead in Springburn hit-and-run jailed for life

A driver who murdered a pedestrian and injured another victim in a hit-and-run attack has been jailed for life.

Michael Day, 25, was ordered to serve at least 20 years in prison before he can apply to seek release on parole.

A judge told Day at the High Court in Edinburgh: “This was a deliberate, sustained attack on two individuals in which you repeatedly used your vehicle as a weapon.”

Lord Harrower said Day has shown “no remorse” for what he did and appeared to have no insight into his offending.

The judge said that he was conscious that no sentence the court imposed could alleviate the suffering of the deceased’s family.

Day was earlier convicted of murdering Thomas Bowers and attempting to murder another man in a car attack in the early hours of April 14, 2023, in the Springburn area.

He drove onto the pavement at Petershill Road before mowing down the men and then driving again at the victims.

Mr Bowers, 33, later died of injuries sustained in the attack, and a second man was left seriously injured and permanently disfigured following the murder bid.

Day hit them with a Vauxhall Astra minutes after a confrontation at a nearby flat. Day had been using a flat in the area for drug trafficking.

The attack survivor told a court that before he was hit by the car, he heard an engine revving. He said: “I remember trying to jump as the car came towards me.”

He said he was drifting in and out of consciousness as he lay on the ground after he was struck. He asked people in the street to call an ambulance to come to their aid.

Drug offender Day had denied committing the murder during the attack at Petershill Road at its junction with Auchinloch Street, but was found guilty of the crime. The court heard he continues to maintain his innocence.

Prosecutors alleged that after the attack, Day removed a SIM card from a mobile phone and fled to a caravan park in Ayr.

Defence counsel Mark Moir KC said: “On any view this was an appalling act of violence.”