Killers showed no remorse 3/6/13
The Senior Investigating Officer of the Liam Aitchison murder inquiry says Johnathon
MacKinnon and Stefan Millar showed “no remorse” after slaying their friend, Liam.
Today, Mackinnon and Millar were found guilty of the murder of the island teenager.
Detective Inspector Andy Logan said: "My thoughts are with Liam Aitchison’s family
at this difficult time and my hope is that the convictions today will provide some
form of closure for them.
"Liam would have just celebrated his 18th birthday this month had he not been murdered.
"Liam was a 16 year-old boy who had his whole life on front of him and enjoyed the
support of a small number of persons locally.
"Unfortunately, Liam fell into the company of Johnathon MacKinnon and Stefan Millar,
believing them to be his friends and placing his trust in them.
They completely betrayed this trust, and in a most brutal and callous way they killed
him in a senseless and sustained attack with weapons.
"Neither man has expressed any remorse throughout the investigation.
"This was a particularly difficult and complex enquiry involving a significant amount
of police and specialist resources. This was the first murder to be reported in the
Western Isles in many years and is a very rare occurrence in what is normally one
of the safest places in Scotland. It was therefore, very shocking to the close knit
community.
“I would like to thank the people of Stornoway for their assistance throughout this
protracted investigation and praise the dedication of the investigation team, specialists,
local officers and staff.”
Western Isles Area Commander Chief Inspector Gordon MacLeod commented on the guilty
verdict saying: "A murder in the Western Isles is an extremely rare event. It affected
the whole community very deeply.
"Everyone rallied around and I would like to give my thanks to the community, partner
agencies and local businesses for all their help and support with the logistics during
the investigation, including help with the basics of accommodation and catering and
so on, to support all the investigation team members at short notice.
"Despite this terrible crime, this remains a very safe place to live and visit. I
hope that this verdict today will bring some sense of relief and closure to Liam's
family and friends and to the community as a whole."
Specialist forensic police officers were flown to Lewis and combed the murder scene
in 2011.
