Man and uncle jailed for murder

A man has been jailed for a minimum of 15 years, and his uncle sentenced to a minimum of 12 years, for the murder of their neighbour.

Gary Gorman, 25, stabbed father-of-three Barnard Hagen six times and left him dying in a street in Clydebank.

His uncle, Michael Gorman, 44, stopped anyone from coming to his aid after the attack in Fleming Avenue last November.

The High Court in Glasgow heard that the killing was the culmination of a long-running family feud.

Gary Gorman, his brother Stephen, 23, and mother Ann, 46, were also convicted of attempting to murder Mr Hagen's son Sean, 24, by throwing a petrol bomb at him and setting him on fire in July 2002 at an earlier trial.

They were were each jailed for seven years for that attack.

Family's suffering

The court heard Sean Hagen suffered horrific burns to more than 24% of his body but did not tell police who had done it until after his father's murder.

Jailing the Gormans, judge Lord Matthews told them: "There is a background in this case, but I make no judgement as to who caused the ill-feeling.

"Matters escalated after the incident in 2002 and further escalated in November last year when Bernard Hagen met his death.

"I accept that the Gorman family is going to be affected by this, but that pales into insignificance compared to the suffering of the Hagen family who have lost a loving father. "

Defence QC Gordon Jackson, representing Gary Gorman, said his client continued to insist he had been acting in self defence.

Mr Jackson added: "He has always expressed remorse that the man died at his hands."

Ian Duguid QC, defending Michael Gorman, said: "He was convicted of murder despite never having been in physical contact with the deceased person. That is something of a rarity in these courts."

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