Tributes paid to stab victim as killer is jailed

Jun 10 2009 Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser

THE LIFELONG friend of a murder victim paid tribute to his tragic pal after the crazed knifeman who killed him was jailed for life.

Brutal Jason McCrimmon carried out a frenzied attack which also saw him attempt to murder another man in Rochsoles Drive, Airdrie.

Last week at the High Court in Glasgow, judge Lord Turnbull ordered McCrimmon to spend at least 17 years behind bars for the murder of William Quinn (42) and attempted murder of Peter Paterson (41).

Now, Willie Murphy (48) who knew William from their school days and was there the night he died, has dubbed his pal a hero.

Mr Murphy was also wounded in the attack as McCrimmon went berserk with a “huge” knife.

He said: “Willie saved lives that night, if he never got it we all would have got it. He jumped in to try to stop it and he was stabbed. He was a hero.

“He was the kind of man who would have done anything for anyone, everybody round here would tell you that.

“What happened was terrible and I have blanked a lot of it out. Willie never deserved that.”

The murder of William Quinn in the early hours of Saturday, June 23, 2007 shocked the tight-knit community in the Thrashbush area of the town.

McCrimmon had gone to the common close in Rochsoles Drive apparently looking for his partner.

He was carrying a large knife and when Mr Paterson tried to calm things down, he stabbed him in the neck.

Mr Quinn went to his friend’s rescue and it was then he was stabbed twice. One of the blows, below his right armpit, pierced his heart and he died at the scene at around 3.20am.

In the following days, floral tributes and messages from loved ones were laid in respect for Mr Quinn.

When police arrived, as the victim lay dying, McCrimmon claimed someone else had carried out the attack and ran away through the back of the close.

But the truth soon emerged and almost two years after an innocent man senselessly lost his life, the killer was finally jailed.

McCrimmon is to serve at least 17 years in prison before being eligible for parole.

At the High Court in Glasgow this week, Lord Turnbull said: “In the circumstances of this particular offence it seems to me appropriate a long punishment period should be imposed.”

Mr Murphy and members of Mr Quinn’s family were in court to hear McCrimmon get his comeuppance.

He said: “It was brilliant when the verdict was finally read out.

“It was well justified but McCrimmon should have got more. It was the kind of thing you want hanging brought back for.”