Teenager has jail sentence for knife attack near Edinburgh Aldi reduced

The teenage son of infamous shotgun killer Jamie Bain yesterday had his prison sentence for a brutal knife attack on a close friend reduced by a judge.

Lawyers went to the appeal court claiming the 18-year-old had suffered a tough childhood because of the “sudden disappearance” of his namesake dad.

Bain senior, however has not disappeared and is serving a minimum 22 years in prison for shooting dead ex-boxing champ Alexander McKinnon in the Marmion pub.

His son could not previously be named because of strict laws but turned 18 this month and it can be revealed he was serving four years for a bloody blade attack on a friend near an Aldi in Gilmerton Road last April.

Jamie Bain, whose son is serving a jail sentence for a knife attack near Aldi in Gilmerton Road, Edinburgh.

Bain Jr pled guilty in February to the assault but lawyer Susan Duff said the apprentice electrician shouldn’t have been locked up for his first offence at such a young age. She asked the judges to instead give him a community payback order or “a lesser custodial sentence”.

At the time, judge Lord Arthurson rejected the plea as “inappropriate and unrealistic” and sent Bain to jail.

Bain’s lawyers went to the Court of Criminal Appeal and said Lord Arthurson was wrong and his sentence was reduced to 40 months in a written ruling issued yesterday.

Lord Menzies and Lord Glennie agreed Bain had to serve time, but determined his sentence was too harsh.

In the written ruling, they said the decision was partly based on a report by developmental psychologist Dr Suzanne Zeedyk who said that Bain had suffered childhood trauma and was “less able” to cope with emotions.

Those, she wrote, included the “sudden disappearance of his father” from his life along with “family chaos and substance use”.

During the blade attack hearing, prosecutor Alex Prentice QC said Bain’s victim was repeatedly stabbed with a large kitchen knife and his injuries were “life-threatening”.

The victim, who is under 18 and cannot be named, collapsed at the side of the road and passers by went to his aid as emergency services were sent to the scene.

He sustained three penetrating stab wounds to his chest, left flank and back, with damage to internal organs including his pancreas and left lung and is scarred for life.

In the judgement, Lord Menzies said the Bain’s background meant that the sentence should be reduced to 40 months.

He wrote: “Unlike some other cases involving young accused, this is not a case in which there is no glimmer of hope; it appears to us possible that the appellant will be successfully re-integrated into society. He has shown some maturity and considerable empathy. He appears to have progressed well in detention, and it is to be hoped that this progress will continue.

“Taking all the factors in this case together.. we have reached the conclusion that a starting point of six years is indeed excessive and does not pay adequate attention to the best interests of the appellant and his re-integration into society.

“We shall accordingly quash the sentence of four years detention… and substitute therefore a sentence of 40 months detention.”

Bain Sr was jailed for at least 22 years for blasting Mr McKinnon, 32, with a sawn-off shotgun and attempting to murder the victim’s brother-in-law James Hendry, 27, in 2006.