Men jailed over 'dump' jibe death

The men admitted attacking Mr Flynn after an argument at a house party

Two men who killed a man after he called their home village in Ayrshire "a dump" have been jailed.

Robert Devlin and Marc McCulloch, both 20, kicked and stamped on Michael Flynn, in Catrine in March.

They admitted the culpable homicide of the 39-year-old after an argument at a party. The court heard the victim had "obvious footprint marks" on his face.

At the High Court in Edinburgh, Devlin was jailed for seven and a half years. McCulloch was jailed for eight years.

The court heard that Mr Flynn, who was not from Catrine, had been living in the village when he was killed.

He met up with a friend, Anthony Nimmo, and the pair went to Mr Flynn's home in Mill Street to drink alcohol before going onto the other man's flat.

Devlin and McCulloch arrived later in the evening and were invited in before leaving with others to buy more alcohol.

This amounted to a vicious attack killing your victim, having followed him downstairs and repeatedly kicked and stamped on his head and body Lord Menzies

The court heard how later that night an argument started about the quality of the village as a place to live.

Mr Flynn is alleged to have called Catrine "a dump" and stated that it was "full of poofs".

After the argument broke out McCulloch offered to fight Mr Flynn outside.

Mr Nimmo told McCulloch and Devlin to leave the flat, but Mr Flynn walked out and the pair followed him.

Devlin and McCulloch then attacked Mr Flynn in the close and began kicking and stamping on him.

The victim suffered a fractured skull, cheek bone and nose and a broken jaw and rib.

'Serious charge'

He was found to have "obvious footprint marks" on his face after the attack, which resulted in him sustaining extensive bruising and swelling to his head.

At the time of the attack, McCulloch had been on early release from a 40-month sentence for robbery.

Devlin and McCulloch were originally charged with murder but the Crown accepted their guilty pleas to a reduced charge of culpable homicide.

Sentencing the pair, judge Lord Menzies said: "You have both pled guilty to a most serious charge. You have taken the life of another man.

"This amounted to a vicious attack killing your victim, having followed him downstairs and repeatedly kicked and stamped on his head and body."

Lord Menzies ordered both men to be kept under supervision for a further two years on their release.