Man jailed for '˜shocking and merciless' stabbing at Edinburgh flat

A MAN has been jailed for after stabbing his workmate and leaving him for dead.

Telfer was sentenced at the High Court in edinburgh

Thomas Telford was handed a 10-year prison sentence at the High Court in Edinburgh after being found guilty of attempted murder, attempting to defeat the ends of justice and assault.

Callum Thomas was stabbed 12 times at his Edinburgh flat on Friday, August 12, 2016, after her and Telford has been out for some drinks.

The court heard how Telfer took a knife from a knife block in the kitchen and stabbed Mr Thomas seven times - twice on the abdomen, once on each flank, once on the right buttock, once on the right hip and once on the right knee.

Some of the wounds were inflicted while Mr Thomas attempted to escape the attack.

Mr Thomas was attended with paramedics before being taken to hospital for emergency surgery and had his right kidney removed.

Sentencing Telford, Lord Uist said: “It is certain that he would have died had he mot received prompt medical attention.

“He has been left permanently scarred as a result of his wounds. He came as near to death as it is possible to come. It is only because of the speed and skill with which the paramedics and surgeons acted that you are not now facing a sentence for murder.”

He added: “You made off from the scene, disposed of the knife and made your way to your home in Glasgow, where your father contacted the police. You later told the police that you had stabbed Mr Thomas and left him for dead, that you should have buried the body and that you ‘could have dug a hole and buried the c*** and been out the now’.

“The attack which you carried out on Mr Thomas was both shocking and merciless and you have shown no remorse.

“You are now 21 years old and were at the material time employed by a roofing company. You have two previous convictions, in January and March 2017, for abusive and threatening behaviour and police assault, the first of which involved also a common law assault and resulted in a community payback order of 180 hours unpaid work.

“Taking into account the nature of the attack on Mr Thomas and its consequences, as well as your previous convictions, the sentence which I impose on charges 1 and 2 taken together is nine years six months imprisonment, six months of which is attributable to the bail aggravation.”

Telford was sentenced to a total of 10 years.