A man who killed his former ‘best’ friend by repeatedly stabbing him during a brutal confrontation in a Dundee street has been jailed for 12 years.
Arran Fender, 31, attacked Gary McMillan, 44, at the junction of Lawton Road and Lawton Terrace, in Dundee on May 16 2017.
The High Court in Edinburgh heard how the two men were armed with knives when they started fighting with each other.
Fender, of Dundee, stabbed Mr McMillan a total of four times during the fight. The grandfather lost his life as consequence of the wounds.
During proceedings at the high court, Fender, who was on trial for murder, claimed he was acting in self-defence when he stabbed Mr McMillan.
He said he plunged a blade into Mr McMillan because his victim initially tried to stab him with a blade.
On Thursday, jurors accepted Fender’s claims that he acted in self defence and convicted him on a lesser charge of culpable homicide.
Passing sentence on Fender, judge Lady Carmichael said custody was the only sentence available to her.
She told him: “You inflicted four stab wounds upon your victim Gary McMillan. The loser of Mr McMillan is and will continue to be felt by this family.
“No sentence which I can pronounce will address the distress and grief caused by his death.
“However, I must impose a custodial term.”
The verdict came at the end of a 10-day trial in which Fender, a prisoner of HMP Barlinnie, denied breach of the peace, knife possession, murder and attempting to pervert the course of justice charges.
Fender’s advocate Donald Findlay QC lodged a special defence of self defence in relation to the murder allegation at the start of proceedings.
The jury heard how Fender and Mr McMillan had once been the “best of friends”. But they both fell out in the months before the fatal attack.
The court heard how Mr McMillan objected to Fender having a relationship with a woman called Jessica Holt whilst he was still involved in a relationship with 31-year-old Jill Halliday.
In the days leading up to the confrontation, the two men sent a series of angry WhatsApp messages to each other.
In the communications, Fender threatened to “kill” Mr McMillan and “put him in a box”.
The jury heard that Mr McMillan and Ms Holt had been drinking at the deceased man’s flat on the day of the attack.
Fender then arrived outside the property in the early hours of May 16 and started shouting at Mr McMillan’s flat. He was armed with a knife.
The court heard that Mr McMillan left his property also armed with a blade.
Fender told Mr Findlay that Mr McMillan tried to stab him – so he started “swiping” at Mr McMillan with his blade in a bid to get his former friend to stop.
He added: “Gary came along and tried to ambush me.”
The court heard that four of these “swipes” struck Mr McMillan and caused him to die.
When Mr Findlay asked his client how he felt about taking his former friend’s life, Fender started crying and said: “I was devastated – there was no need for any of this. Everybody involved is suffering.”
During cross examination, Mr McTaggart told Fender that the only reason he took a knife to Mr McMillan’s house was to have a violent confrontation with him.
Fender said he disagreed with the prosecution lawyer and added: “I had to fight for my life in that street – I was just focused on trying to stay alive.”
He also told the court that he cared for his former friend.
He added: “I didn’t want to hurt Gary. I didn’t want any of this.”
On Thursday, jurors convicted Fender of culpable homicide and knife possession. Prosecutors had withdrawn the other charges at the end of the Crown case.
Mr McTaggart told the court that Fender had three previous convictions for knife possession and three previous convictions for assault.
Mr Findlay urged Lady Carmichael not to adjourn sentence for the court to obtain reports about his client’s character.
He said that the nature of Fender’s previous convictions meant that there was no legal requirement for the court to obtain reports.
Mr Findlay added: “He is keen to learn his fate.”
Lady Carmichael also sentenced Fender to nine months in prison for illegally possessing a knife. This sentence will run concurrently with the one imposed for culpable homicide.
