Liam Aitchison’s killers lose appeal

The judges presiding over the appeal of two islanders found guilty of murdering Liam Aitchison have released their reasons for denying them their freedom.

Jonathon Mackinnon and Stefan Millar - both aged 24 years - lost their appeal.

The pair claimed they were innocent and were wrongly convicted.

Their appeal was heard by judges Lady Dorrian, Lord Bracadale and Lord Drummond Young at the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh in October.

They were found guilty of brutally stabbing Liam Aitchison following a trial at Glasgow High Court in 2013.

The 16-year-old from Lochboisdale was killed in a derelict building in Steinish, outside Stornoway.

The pair maintained they did not murder the teenager.

Jonathon Mackinnon, then of Plasterfield, Stornoway, and Stefan Millar, of Carloway, Lewis, were sentenced to life with a minimum of 18 years in jail before being eligible to apply for parole.

Their lawyers insisted they were victims of a miscarriage of justice, arguing there was insufficient evidence to justify a guilty verdict.

The appeal judges said: “There was no evidence that the deceased was ever seen again after leaving in the company of (Mackinnon) and there was pathological evidence that was consistent with death occurring in a few hours after that sighting.”

They added: “Here there was clearly a satisfactory base line of evidence which would properly entitle the jury to carry out their task.

“This is fundamentally a circumstantial case where the various pieces of evidence, if accepted and viewed as a whole, entitled the jury to be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the appellant was guilty as libelled. The appeals will therefore be refused.”

Both accused had been sentenced to life with a minimum of 18 years in jail before they will be eligible to apply for parole.

Liam Aitchison’s killers lose bid to win freedom

4 February 2015