Youth sentenced for New Year violence spree and killing

BBC Shaun WoodburnBBC
Shaun Woodburn died following an incident on New Year's Day

A schoolboy who killed a junior footballer in Edinburgh has been sentenced to four years' detention.

Shaun Woodburn, 30, died after he was attacked by the 17-year-old outside Gladstone's pub in Leith on New Year's Day.

The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow having been convicted of culpable homicide.

Mr Woodburn was punched and later died after suffering massive head injuries.

Murder charge

The youth had earlier attacked random strangers who had been celebrating Hogmanay in Edinburgh.

It sparked a fight outside Gladstone's Bar in Leith which led to Mr Woodburn being fatally injured in the early hours of New Year's Day.

Mr Woodburn's attacker had originally faced a murder charge during a trial in Dunfermline.

Lady Stacey told him: "Shaun Woodburn's family will never be the same again - perhaps most poignantly a young daughter who has been deprived of her father.

"You have to live the rest of your life with the knowledge of this young man's death."

'Remorse'

The teenager will also be supervised for a further 18 months after his release.

The teenager denied causing the death, but did admit assaulting five other people in Edinburgh that night.

Derek Ogg, defending, said the killer had shown "undoubted remorse" for his conduct.

The court heard the teenager had been a "mentor" to other young prisoners while on remand.

Co-accused Mohammed Zakariyah, 19, was ordered to carry out 240 hours of unpaid work.

He had pleaded guilty to two assaults and a breach of the peace in connection with that night.