Bathgate murder victim Dean Ritchie suffered 67 stab wounds in frenzied knife attack

A brutal killer who murdered a friend in a frenzied knife attack at the victim's home then callously caught a cab to take him to a drug dealer, has been jailed for life.

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Serial thug Patrick Columb, 26, will serve a minimum 15 years in jail before he can seek parole after inflicting 67 stab wounds on Dean Ritchie.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard that Columb took a taxi after the attack to buy drugs and told an acquaintance he stabbed the victim over 50 times and "slit his jugular".

Dean Ritchie was pronounced dead at the scene in Mosside Drive. Pictures: Google/Police Scotland

Advocate depute Chris McKenna said: "He said he had stabbed him to the back of the neck, then the side and the front. The accused laughed after saying this."

A judge told Columb: "You have plead guilty to the murder of Dean Ritchie stabbing him repeatedly. You inflicted a total of 67 wounds in a frenzied attack, focused particularly on his head and neck."

Lady Carmichael said she would have jailed Columb for 18 years if he has not submitted an early guilty plea, adding that he was “under the influence of substances” at the time of the attack.

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Columb, formerly of Monklands Road, Bathgate, admitted murdering Mr Ritchie, 35, in a knife attack at Mosside Drive, Blackburn, between June 11 and 12 this year.

Mr McKenna said: "The accused and the deceased were known to each other and were considered friends."

Mr Ritchie’s mother met him in Blackburn at about 1 pm on June 11 when he told her that Columb stayed at his flat the previous night and was still there sleeping.

The prosecutor said: "The deceased said that he was going back home to get the accused out."

Mr Ritchie was later at home with Columb and his girlfriend when Columb started acting in a "weird manner".

Mr McKenna said: "For no apparent reason, he stabbed the deceased in the leg with a knife causing him to fall to the floor. He then went on to stab him repeatedly in the head, neck and body."

Columb then left and went to a relative's address before getting a taxi. During the journey he told the driver: "Somebody's been murdered there."

After arriving at his destination a neighbour who had learnt of the stabbing through social media asked Columb: "What have you done? You've killed Bock. You've stabbed him seven times." Columb answered: "No man, it was more like 55 times."

Police later found blood on a bed, carpet and walls and Mr Ritchie on the floor covered by a duvet.

Officers who went to Columb's home noticed blood on the pathway to the house and forced entry. Columb was found on a bed heavily under the influence.

The deceased was found to have suffered neck wounds that cut a carotid artery and hit the jugular vein. He also sustained a knife blow to the chest which went right through the sternum and died from stab wounds to the head and neck.

Defence QC James Keegan said: "There is no explanation as to why this happened, no clear explanation, except to say some kind of argument developed."

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