Jail for Buckfast bottle killers

Jack Wilde, 24, was repeatedly kicked and hit with a Buckfast wine bottle after a gang of youths knocked him to the ground in Glenrothes, Fife.

The victim had been challenged to a "square go" when he encountered the youths at the Glenwood Shopping Centre.

At the High Court in Edinburgh, Robert McKay and Andrew Irvine had earlier admitted a culpable homicide charge.

The judge Lady Dorrian told the pair: "It is a despicable offence. The only way I can deal with both of you is by a custodial sentence."

They each faced nine years' detention for the crime, but their sentences were cut to six years and nine months following their guilty pleas.

She said she took into account their youth and previous character and "most of all the genuine remorse which has been shown by both of you in recognising the devastation you have brought to the family of the deceased by your actions".

'Nasty, squalid offence'

Two other youths, Lawrence Nelson and Grant Partridge, who also took part in the attack on Mr Wilde, escaped jail sentences and were each put on probation for two years.

Nelson, 16, was also ordered to carry out 80 hours of unpaid work in the community and Partridge, 17, was ordered to carry out 200 hours.

The judge told Partridge he had committed "a nasty, squalid offence" by attacking a defenceless man, who was already dying after being injured by others.

Mr Wilde was unconscious when he was taken to hospital after the attack and was later pronounced dead.

He had been chased from the shopping centre to South Parks Road, where the attack happened on 4 August, 2007.

McKay, 17, and Irvine, 19, were originally charged with murder but the Crown accepted their guilty pleas to a reduced charge of culpable homicide.

Mr Wilde, from Glenrothes, had been out drinking when he came across the teenagers.

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