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Guilty verdict at Inverness Sheriff Court on teenager who stabbed two men in Highland village in a dispute over unpaid debt


By Ali Morrison

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A ROSS-SHIRE teenager who stabbed two men in a dispute over an unpaid debt was found guilty by a jury's majority verdict after a four-day trial.

Dylan Thorpe delayed the trial by a day when he failed to turn up on Thursday, July 22, the day after all evidence had been heard.

But the non-appearance could not be reported for legal reasons until a verdict had been reached.

As Thorpe is only 19 years of age, Sheriff Margaret Neilson was obliged to call for a background report.

But she remanded Thorpe, from Strathpeffer, in custody until August 30 because of his failure to appear.

He had been arrested when he turned up at the request of his lawyer, Graham Mann, after lunch on Thursday.

The court heard that the violence took place in Mill Street in Ullapool on the night of July 31/August 1 last year.

The court was told that Thorpe and 25-year-old Dylan McWhinney first met each other in homeless accommodation in Inverness's Kenneth Street.

They became good pals and when Thorpe asked his namesake for a loan, it was handed over without any arrangement for repayment, Mr McWhinney told police.

Sheriff Margaret Neilson. Picture: Andrew Smith
Sheriff Margaret Neilson. Picture: Andrew Smith

The court heard Mr McWhinney was now deceased but his death was unrelated to the attack on him. His police statement was read out to the jury.

The court was told that Thorpe had two knives and stabbed his former pal and his friend, 26-year-old local fisherman Jordan Megbaghandu. They had met by chance in the Wester Ross fishing village.

Mr McWhinney ended up in the high dependency unit of Raigmore Hospital with a punctured lung after suffering bleeding into his chest cavity. He also sustained a stab wound to his left arm which required stitches.

He was discharged on August 3.

Mr Megbaghandu was stabbed in his right arm, also requiring stitches. He told the court he was off his work for months and has been left with a scar.

Thorpe had denied assaulting Mr McWhinney to the danger of his life and assaulting Mr Megbaghandu to his permanent disfigurement.

Thorpe also denied possessing a knife without reasonable excuse. He was convicted of all three charges, the jury rejecting a special defence of self-defence.

Thorpe claimed he was chased and attacked by both men and, fearing for his life, he stabbed them after grabbing the knife from Mr McWhinney.

Mr Megbaghandu confirmed he and Mr McWhinney had chased Thorpe and that he had grabbed him and wouldn't let go.

He said Thorpe pulled out a small penknife. "He tried to stab me in the chest but it caught the material of my tee-shirt. I held his arm with the first knife but then he pulled out a second knife, with a six inch blade and stabbed me in the elbow.

"I warned Dylan that he had a knife but he paid no attention to that." He said that the two men were grappling and wrestling when Mr McWhinney was stabbed in the back.

He denied wanting to hurt Thorpe, claiming he wanted both men to talk after they had fallen out in the pub earlier.

He said: "The debt had nothing to do with me. It was not my concern. But I had known Dylan McWhinney for a long time. We were like brothers and what bothered him bothered me.

"I shouldn't have grabbed Dylan Thorpe. We make some stupid decisions sometimes," Mr Megbaghandu went on, adding that he "felt responsible" for what happened to his best friend.


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