Life Sentence Issued to Teenager Who Committed Fatal Knife Attack While on Bail

A 17-year-old who killed a man with a hunting knife while out on bail for a separate slashing incident has been sentenced to life in prison, with a minimum tariff of 17 years. The youth is responsible for the death of John McNab, a 22-year-old warehouse worker, during an unprovoked assault on Great Junction Street in Leith on September 2 of last year.

This fatal stabbing occurred just four months after the teenager was released on bail following charges related to a knife attack on a 16-year-old boy at Portobello Beach. The adolescent, whose identity is protected due to his age, has already pleaded guilty to both offenses.

Graphic CCTV evidence captured the harrowing moments before McNab’s death. The footage depicts McNab begging for his life before being stabbed four times while lying on the pavement. In a poignant interview with BBC Scotland News, the victim’s mother, Lisa Petrie, expressed the enduring trauma of the event. "As a mum, that haunts me," she said. "Imagine how scared he was in that moment. That'll be with me for the rest of my life."

The incident unfolded on the night McNab died after a brief confrontation involving some of his friends and the teenager. During the initial scuffle, the youth was slapped and struck on the face. He subsequently pursued the group to a nearby flat, shouting threats, and waited outside for over two hours. McNab was not part of the earlier altercation but became the target when he left the building to catch a taxi.

According to the surveillance video, McNab pleaded with his attacker, stating, "Please, please don't. I haven't done anything." As he attempted to flee, he tripped over a traffic island and fell. He received four stab wounds before collapsing. When his friends discovered him bleeding from a fatal abdominal injury, he urged them, "Help me, help me, I'm dying."

Later that morning, the teenager dispatched threatening voice messages to one of McNab’s friends, warning, "Let that be a warning to all your pals if you ever touch me again."

Prosecutors presented the CCTV footage and a photograph of the 20cm (8in) hunting knife to Lisa Petrie prior to the teenager’s guilty plea at the High Court in Edinburgh last month. Recalling the experience, Petrie said, "It felt like it went through my heart, to see what killed your own child." However, she added that the evidence also fueled her resolve: "But at the same time it gave me a fire in my belly where I thought, these things need to change."

Petrie emphasized the urgent need for reform, stating, "Our law needs to change. Our sale of knives need to change. Our culture needs to change. For our younger generation, if we don't change now, we're going to be losing a lot. I've already lost my child. Let's not lose anymore."

In the wake of her son’s death, Petrie has campaigned for stricter regulations on knife sales. She advocates for kitchen knives to be secured in packaging similar to spirits or moved behind counters. She also calls for tighter controls on blades like the one used in the murder, noting that selling such weapons to individuals under 18 is illegal. Petrie remains unaware of how the teenager acquired the murder weapon.

Additionally, she questioned why the perpetrator was granted bail after the earlier attack at Portobello Beach. "It's his first offence, and he's used a knife, so why was he just allowed to walk free?" she asked, arguing that he should have been held in a secure unit.

The teenager admitted to both the Portobello attack and the murder of John McNab during a previous court hearing. He has been detained indefinitely, meaning he will only be considered for release if the parole board deems it safe to do so.

Source: BBC News Generated at: 2026-06-04 09:26:18 UTC