Justice system 'badly flawed' - Killer set free after three years attacks again
A KILLER freed after just three years behind bars for the one-punch death of a takeaway driver carried out two unprovoked attacks following his release.
The news yesterday prompted a backlash from politicians, who said the case showed the inadequacies of Scotland’s judicial system.
John Reid was just 16 when he killed Simon San with a single punch in 2010.
He was convicted of culpable homicide and sentenced to five years detention but was freed after serving just three.
Yesterday, at the High Court in Glasgow, Reid, now 23, pleaded guilty to punching a woman repeatedly on the head and robbing another man at knifepoint. Last night, a spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives said: “It was plain to everyone that the punishment didn’t match the crime in the appalling case of Simon San.
“That scepticism has now been proved right, as the killer left jail and committed two more violent attacks.
“This is what happens when you have a system too prone to soft touch decisions like this. Had he been locked up for the correct length of time, these victims would have been spared these ordeals.”
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Reid killed Mr San outside his family’s Yong Hua Garden Chinese takeaway in Edinburgh.
The 40-year-old, a British citizen of Chinese origin and born in Vietnam, came to Scotland aged 12 and was attacked by a gang of “feral” youths, including Reid and his co-accused in the latest case, Michael Roberts.
Mr San fell to the ground, suffering fatal head injuries and died the following day.
That scepticism has now been proved right
Police were later forced to apologise for failing to treat the attack on Mr San as being racially motivated. Just 11 days after the attack, Reid bragged on Facebook from behind bars that he was “doin’ my time, then comin’ out to shine”.
Roberts, aged 16 at the time, got 42 months for assault. Roberts also admitted stealing Mr San’s car keys and phone as he lay dying.
Outlining the details of Reid’s latest attacks, prosecutor Duncan McPhie said Reid, accompanied by co-accused Roberts, targeted Michael Glancy after he withdrew £250 from an Edinburgh ATM. The pair then went to his close entry buzzer and, when the victim answered it, a man said: “It’s John, Mickey.”
Mr McPhie said: “He assumed it was his friend, John, and allowed entry and opened his door.”
The court was told that Roberts pushed his way in with a bread knife with a four-inch blade in his hand and Reid also entered the flat.
Both accused pushed and pulled Mr Glancy around the house, demanding to know where the money was.
Roberts, who also admitted being involved in the robbery, removed £250 in cash while Reid searched through kitchen cupboards and drawers before the pair left.
The pair were identified as the offenders from CCTV.
Reid’s second victim, Louise Ferguson, was in Edinburgh after she challenged him about a motorbike he was revving excessively.
She knew through a Facebook alert that the bike had been stolen but Reid punched her twice on the left side of her face when she approached him.
At the time of the offences, Reid, who also admitted resetting a motorbike, was on bail while Roberts was under curfew.
Judge Lord Burns called for background reports and an assessment of the risk they pose to the public.
Lord Burns told the accused: “In view, in particular, of the record of John Reid I’m going to get a risk assessment and I shall get that for both of you.”
He deferred sentence until next month.