A teenager who captioned a selfie with the word ‘gametime’ moments before killing a neighbour has been detained for six years and eight months.
Jack McBride was just 17 when he knifed Johnny Winters in the heart during a confrontation in the street in Johnstone, Renfrewshire on April 1, 2020.
The High Court in Glasgow heard how McBride had earlier called his ex-girlfriend taunting her about how she thought he could not "kill" somebody.
McBride, of Johnstone, Renfrewshire, had gone on trial at the High Court in Glasgow for murdering his 26-year-old victim.
However, McBride, now an inmate of YOI Polmont, decided to plead guilty to a charge of culpable homicide.
Judge Lady Haldane deferred sentence to the High Court in Edinburgh after hearing the circumstances of the brutal assault.
She had heard how McBride acted under provocation as Mr Winters had earlier struck him with the blunt side of an axe.
On Tuesday at the High Court in Edinburgh, Lady Haldane heard McBride’s defence advocate Thomas Ross QC speak of how his client had expressed remorse for his actions.
Mr Ross told her that he was dedicated to turning his life around and that he wanted to help other young people who find themselves in similar positions to his own.
However, Lady Haldane told McBride that she had no other option but to detain him in custody.
She said: “I have heard how you accepted that you acted as a consequence of a trivial reason. I have heard how you have expressed genuine remorse and accept full responsibility for your actions.
“I have taken into account the submissions made by your counsel. I have taken account of sentencing guidelines. There is no sentence which I can impose that will bring back Mr Winter to his family.
“A period of detention is appropriate in a case where another life has been taken. There is no other disposal appropriate for this case.”
McBride and Mr Winters had both lived in High Street, Johnstone.
The killer previously suspected Mr Winters was responsible for the door of his family home being set alight in 2019.
McBride then believed Mr Winters’s partner had later made a threat towards his sister.
On the night of the fatal attack, the teenager called his ex-girlfriend. The court heard how he stated: "You think I cannot kill someone. You think my bark is bigger than my bite.
"Johnny Winters thinks he is a name. I will be a name."
Both his ex and his mother failed to calm McBride down. He soon left the flat armed with a kitchen knife.
The teenager stormed up outside Johnny's flat and yelled at him to come downstairs.
Prosecutor Neil McCulloch told the court: "McBride video recorded this interaction and shared it over Snapchat.
"The Snapchat commences with a screenshot of a text message sent earlier by him to Johnny Winters.
"It is captioned: 'F*** Johnny - tried him once, I'll try him again. Lets hope he does something this time'.
"McBride can be seen in the recording shouting up at the window demanding he come out.
"Johnny Winters can be heard telling him to come up.
"The recording ends with a selfie of McBride captioned 'gametime'."
The victim had been at home with his partner as well as his friend Adam Gallagher.
Adam gave evidence and recalled going onto the street seeing McBride and Mr Winters "squaring up" to each other.
The witness said: "I was saying to Jack to go back to his house and asking what he was doing. I was trying to get him to see sense."
Jurors heard Mr Winters then eventually struck McBride with the "blunt side" of a hatchet.
The teenager responded by stabbing Mr Winters once in the chest with the knife before running off.
Adam said: "Johnny had his new jacket on and I saw the material inside of it coming out.
"I asked: "Did he stab you?". He said 'no' then his face changed, he went all weird...and that was that.
"He collapsed and I caught him. I was talking to him, trying to stop the blood. He was staring at the sky."
Medics soon arrived, but were unable to save Mr Winters.
On Tuesday, Mr Ross told the court that his client regretted taking Mr Winters’s life.
He added: “He speaks eloquently about his guilt and he has accepted being responsible for the death of Mr Winters.
“He accepts full responsibility for his actions. He knows he is entirely to blame for his actions and he needs to continue to grow up.”
Lady Haldane told McBride, who observed proceedings via video link, that if he hadn’t pleaded guilty, he would have received a seven year custodial term.
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