Mobe snap murderers face justice

A Glasgow man who murdered a 24-year-old by stabbing him 80 times with a knife and then "went on to pose for a mobile phone picture alongside the victim's body" will be sentenced next month.

Stephen Price, 20, admitted murdering 24-year-old Scott Burgess, "with a knife in his home in Glen Street, Paisley, between August and September last year", the BBC reports. His 17-year-old partner, Karen Duncan, admitted culpable homicide, while her sister Irene Duncan, 18, "also admitted attempting to defeat the ends of justice by trying to conceal evidence".

Prosecutor Derek Ogg QC told the court that there was "no motive for the horrific crime, apart from the fact Price believed Mr Burgess had made some derogatory remarks about his friends".

The Beeb continues: "Once inside Price locked the front door and launched what Mr Ogg described as 'a frenzied and sustained knife assault' amounting to at least 80 separate blows."

Mr Ogg said: "Mr Burgess collapsed into unconsciousness or death."

He continued: "Price then posed with his body, brandishing his knife and smiling whilst one of the Duncan girls photographed him on a mobile phone camera."

The accused buried their clothing in a black bag along with the "knife, the screwdriver and the mobile phone", and cut up bloodstained carpet and threw it down a rubbish chute.

They then deposited their victim into a bath filled with water and bleach, of which Ogg said: "These acts constituted a thought-out and callous campaign over a number of days. It betrayed gross levels of depravity and indifference to the dignity of the dead man as well as adding to the grief and devastation of his family."

Price's family discovered Scott's fate nine days after his murder. Judge Lord Brodie said: "One of the stark features of this case are the mobile phone photographs." He "deferred sentence on all three until next month for background reports". ®