No jail for heroin death brother

McGilvray admitted culpable homicide at Edinburgh High Court

A man who killed his brother by supplying him with a fatal dose of heroin has escaped a jail sentence.

Jamie McGilvray, 23, was put on probation for two years and ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work in the community.

Lord MacLean told him at the High Court in Edinburgh that it was a very tragic case.

The judge said that the death of William Brown, 44, could not be fully explained and was wholly unexpected.

The court heard that the shock of the death of Mr Brown after taking the Class A drug had led to McGilvray giving up the abuse of heroin.

Lord MacLean told McGilvray: "I am not going to impose a custodial sentence.

"I do not see it as being of any value at all in the very special circumstances of this case."

He would never have wished harm on his brother Robert Anthony QC Defence counsel

McGilvray, of Port Ellen, Islay, in Argyll, had earlier admitted the culpable homicide of Mr Brown on 24 July last year by supplying him with heroin for his use.

The court was told that Mr Brown worked as a fisherman out of Scrabster, in Caithness, and had given some heroin to McGilvray before going to sea on a trip.

On his return he sent a text message to McGilvray, who was then staying in Inverness, and arranged for them to meet with their respective partners.

McGilvray booked a room at the hotel part of Bar 45, in Rose Street, in Inverness.

They met up and McGilvray gave Mr Brown the heroin and he injected himself and fell asleep.

But his partner, who had also taken heroin, woke to discover that he was dead. An ambulance was called and police were alerted.

McGilvray said he had been holding the heroin for his brother. The quantity he supplied to Mr Brown came from the batch he had previously given to him.

Defence counsel Robert Anthony QC said: "He would never have wished harm on his brother."