Man who murdered neighbour handed life sentence

Martin Carroll, 28, had earlier pled guilty to a charge of murder. He was jailed for a minimum of 14 years years after being given a mandatory life term.

At a hearing in December, the High Court in Glasgow was told that he stabbed 36 year old Stephen Gannon with a large knife in August of last year. It was following an argument relating to another neighbour’s dog.

Mr Gannon collapsed in the street outside the block of flats they shared in the Springburn area of Glasgow and died shortly afterwards.

The court was told that Mr Carroll had a string of convictions for violence, including possessing a knife.

Jennifer Harrower, procurator fiscal for the High Court, West of Scotlandsaid: “Martin Carroll chose to arm himself and use the weapon to carry out a senseless, violent crime.

“We are well aware of the devastating affect that knife crime can have and this is another, tragic example of that.

“As prosecutors, we will continue to do our utmost to prosecute those who are responsible for violence and knife crime.”

Sentencing him at the High Court in Edinburgh, Mr Carroll was told by Lord Turnbull that the punishment part of his sentence would be 14 years in jail before he would be eligible for parole.