A teenage girl has been jailed for life for killing a Fife grandmother during a row over £5 and a borrowed cigarette.
Nicolle Earley - one of Scotland's youngest female murderers - was 16 when she killed Ann Gray in her home in Crosshill on 14 November 2008.
At the High Court in Edinburgh, the 18-year-old was ordered to serve a minimum of 14 years in prison.
Mrs Gray, 63, died as a result of a head injury after she was knocked to the ground and repeatedly stamped on.
Earley pleaded guilty to the murder last month.
Lady Dorrian said she reduced the minimum sentence of 15 years because of Earley's guilty plea.
The judge said: "There is only one sentence I can pass following a plea of guilty to murder and that is detention for life."
Unemployed Earley was living with her grandmother, who stayed in the same street as Mrs Gray and was friends with the victim, at the time of the murder.
Advocate depute Morag Jack said that on the day before the fatal attack Mrs Gray had apparently borrowed a cigarette from Earley on the understanding she would get two in return the next day.
Ms Jack said Earley left her grandmother's home to go and see Mrs Gray "to retrieve the cigarettes she was owed".
"When the deceased came to the door there was an argument about the cigarette and money the accused was due for going shopping," said the advocate depute.
Mrs Gray was pushed to the ground and suffered a fractured jaw and broken cheek bone along with a fractured bone in her upper neck.
Defence solicitor advocate Gordon Martin said Earley, who has a previous conviction for assault, came from "a particularly troubled background" and was involved in trouble at school.
No comments:
Post a Comment