A high risk, convicted rapist who brutally murdered a man in a premeditated knife attack was jailed for life today.
A judge ordered that Richard Wotherspoon must serve at least 17 years in prison for the murder of his victim in Bellshill, in North Lanarkshire. Lord Armstrong told Wotherspoon, 33: "You have pleaded guilty to the murder of Samuel Hamilton with a bladed weapon. You inflicted five stab wounds on your victim."
One of the knife wounds penetrated the neck of Mr Hamilton, 56, and damaged a carotid artery and jugular vein. Lord Armstrong said at the High Court in Edinburgh: "This crime was premeditated by you. You went out looking for your victim armed with a knife and with the intention of causing him injury. You had previously told others of your intention to do him harm."
