A Lanarkshire thug who brutally murdered his neighbour by smacking him with a shovel and stabbing him nine times has been jailed for a minimum 21 years.
Nicholas Henry attacked Daniel Greer in a garden in the Greengairs area of Airdrie on October 17 2020.
He then dragged Daniel’s body back into the victim’s Rankin Crescent home, where his father made the grim discovery two days later.
The 45-year-old was today (Wednesday) jailed for life at the High Court in Glasgow by judge Lord Scott, after being convicted of murder following a trial last month.
Police expressed their sympathy to the Greer family and thanked local residents for their assistance with the enquiry following today’s sentencing.
It emerged that Henry had previously been jailed for 12 years in 2011 for trying to kill a man, including almost severing his hand.
The murder trial had heard from a neighbour of the men, who had seen Henry assaulting 33-year-old Daniel in the early-hours attack.
She told jurors: “I saw Nicholas in my garden with Daniel, who had his hand on his head saying ‘leave me, leave me’. Nicholas was saying: ‘Get up you f***ing b***ard’.”
The woman saw the killer strike Daniel with a shovel and stamp on him, and watched Henry drag the victim away before she closed her blinds.
Henry went on to ditch the knife in a nearby field. He later told a friend who spoke to him about Daniel: “Don’t worry, you will not be seeing him again, he is gone.”
In his closing speech, prosecutor Euan Cameron said Henry had repeatedly knifed Daniel on the neck, chest, stomach and back and that the victim had also suffered multiple bruises and a bleed to the brain.
Mr Cameron had said: “He struck him with such a force that the knife left a notch in one of his ribs and cut open a vein in his liver.
“Henry took him back to his home where he left him to bleed to death.”
In his evidence, Henry denied murder and claimed he had been defending himself against an allegedly armed Daniel.
Following the sentencing, DCI Frank Travers of Police Scotland’s major investigation team said: “Daniel died as a result of a violent assault and his family have been left absolutely devastated.
“Although [this] conviction can’t change what happened, I hope that it can bring them at least a degree of closure. Our thoughts remain with them at this extremely difficult time.
“Violence like this has no place in our society and we will continue to work closely with our partners to bring perpetrators to justice
“I’d also like to thank the local people in the Greengairs and Airdrie communities for their assistance during this inquiry.
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