Man jailed for torturing man who jumped to death

A man who tortured a man for two days before he jumped to his death from a 12th-storey flat has been jailed for eight years.

Lee Smith, 37, abducted Jamie Forbes, also 37, and held him against his will at his flat in Elphinstone Court, Aberdeen, in January.

Smith repeatedly struck his victim with a hammer and punched and kicked him during the attack, before Mr Forbes made the jump that ended his life.

Smith earlier admitted culpable homicide, and was jailed at the High Court in Edinburgh.

Judge Lady Hood had previously heard how the abuse inflicted on Mr Forbes was so bad that he had no other option but to jump out the window.

His body was found on the ground on 15 January.

Leanne McQuillan, prosecuting, told the court police officers arrived shortly afterwards.

They discovered the lock of the flat had been adjusted which would have prevented Mr Forbes from leaving.

They found Smith washing up in his kitchen, and bloodstains around the flat.

Ms McQuillan said: "The accused informed the officers that he was refusing to clean up the blood in the living room as it wasn't his and he was waiting for the deceased to do it."

She said that Mr Forbes was last captured on CCTV entering the block on 14 January.

The next morning a contractor working nearby heard a male voice shouting for the police. At the same time a nearby resident also reported hearing a male repeatedly shouting for help but wasn’t sure where it came from. She called 999.

A resident of the 10th floor heard a male voice repeatedly shouting "please help me".

He went out onto the balcony to try and work out where it was coming from but could not see anyone. He believed the shouting was coming from above him.

Two residents who lived directly above the accused also heard shouting for help. They looked down and saw the window below was open and saw a male shouting for help and for the police.

A number of other witnesses saw a male at a window of the flat with blood on his face calling for help. There were more calls made to the police.

Ms McQuillan said: "Police officers attended and made door-to-door inquiries on the 6th, 7th and 8th floor but were not able to trace the source of the shouting.

"They left the locus advising the construction workers to call back if the shouting started again."

The court heard that two witnesses went into Smith's flat and saw the victim lying on the living room floor in a pool of blood.

They left, and Mr Forbes jumped from the property.

Ms McQuillan said a post-mortem examination carried out on Mr Forbes found injuries that were “significant and catastrophic”.

Defence counsel Brian McConnachie KC said: "He is under no doubt that only a custodial sentence is appropriate.

"There is genuine remorse and insight into his actions on his part."

Lady Hood told Smith that he needed to go to jail for his crimes. She also ordered him to be supervised by the authorities for four years following his release.

Passing sentence, the judge told Smith how members of his victim's family had provided a statement to the court detailing how the loss of their loved one had hit them.

She said: "I've seen a victim impact statement which has been provided to the court by Mr Forbes' sister.

"She has explained movingly how loved Mr Forbes was and how she found it difficult to find the words needed to covey how much their lives have been torn apart by the loss of their loved one.

"No sentence I can impose can possibly address the pain and suffering that she has felt."

In a statement at the time, the family of Mr Forbes said: "Jamie was a much-loved son, grandson, uncle, nephew, cousin and forever loved brother and brother-in-law."