A Fife man who killed a “loving” grandfather by pushing him down a flight of stairs at a busy train station has been jailed for six years.
Marc McKinlay, 38, assaulted Donald Maguire, 58, at Edinburgh’s Haymarket train station on February 20 2020.
The High Court in Edinburgh heard how McKinlay pushed Mr Maguire on his body, which caused him to fall and hit his head on the ground.
McKinlay then kicked Mr Maguire’s son Brian on the body, before striking him on the head with a bag containing cans of alcohol.
Brian’s father later died in hospital and McKinlay, of Cowdenbeath, was arrested after getting on a train.
‘No sentence can bring Mr Maguire back’
The story emerged last month after McKinlay was found guilty of culpable homicide at the end of a four-day trial.
Sentence had been deferred for reports and judge Fiona Tait told McKinlay prison was the only option available to her.
She said: “I have read victim impact statements from Mr Maguire’s wife, son and daughter and these each describe in moving terms the understandable loss that Mr Maguire’s death has had upon them.
“There is no sentence which the court can impose that can bring Mr Maguire back to his family or indeed, reflect his loss.
“It is accurate in these circumstances that a custodial sentence is the appropriate disposal in this case.”
‘Life and soul of the party’
Mr Maguire died from his injuries at the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh on March 4 2020.
His daughter Lynsey called him “the life and soul of the party, the man who would help others when no one else would, a man who would never be at home for too long….because life was for the living”.
She said he was “a loving husband, an incredible dad, the best granddad and brother that any of us could of ever, ever asked for.
“No words can truly explain what an unbelievable man he was and is.”
The trial
The court heard how Mr Maguire and his son had been enjoying a night out in Edinburgh and were at Haymarket to catch a train back home.
Beer-carrying McKinlay, described by a witness as drunk, was also there to catch a train.
Witnesses described him getting into an altercation with the Maguires on the stairs to the platform, before his arrest by police on the train.
One said: “He seemed to be more concerned about his beers than what was happening on the stairs.”
Travel agency worker Connie Dalrymple, 29, told of the moments after Mr Maguire was assaulted.
She said: “When he fell we heard his head crack.
“He lay just still. He didn’t move.
“We thought it was quite serious.”
Mr Maguire was given CPR but died nearly two weeks later.
‘Heat of the moment’ assault
On Wednesday, defence solicitor advocate Iain McSporran QC told judge Tait McKinlay assaulted Mr Maguire in the “heat of the moment”.
Mr McSporran added: “There is nothing I can say or anything I can do which can alleviate the loss felt by Mr Maguire’s family.
“Mr McKinlay fully accepts only a custodial sentence is appropriate.
“He has expressed his clear remorse for the loss of Mr Maguire in the circumstances.”
Judge Tait also gave McKinlay 15 months for assaulting Brian Maguire.
However, she ordered that sentence run concurrently to the six-year term.
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