Man Sentenced For Brother's Murder

23 October 2014, 14:26

A dad-of-two has been jailed for at least 18 and a half years for stabbing his brother to death.

Peter Moore, 28, of O'Hare, Bonhill, Dunbartonshire, was found  guilty of murdering his brother Derek, 25, at their mother's a flat  in Drive Road, Govan, on January 3.

Judge Lady Wolffe sentenced Moore to life imprisonment and told him: "You stand convicted of the murder of your own brother in the house of your mother. In convicting  you the jury rejected your defence of self defence."

Lady Wolffe told Moore that although his brother was initially the aggressor by punching him, he had used a knife on him as he lay on the ground.

The High Court in Glasgow heard that Derek Moore suffered 70  wounds, many of them defensive.

He was stabbed four times and the fatal wound which caused massive internal bleeding was to his  abdomen.

The court heard that a trial of blood leading from the flat to the common close was consistent with Derek Moore having been dragged out of the house and on to a downstairs landing.

Lady Wolffe told Moore: "You left him there to die. This was a prolonged and vicious attack.

"The crime of murder is a most egregious crime. You have doubly punished your family."

She ordered that the punishment part of the life sentence should be set at 18 and a half years before Moore is eligible to apply for parole.

The two brothers had been staying at their mother's Glasgow home over the festive period.

In a police interview Moore told detectives: "I said I wasn't going to fight with him again."

The court  heard that on a previous occasion Derek Moore broke his brother's jaw.

That fight was witnessed in front of a six-year-old boy, who was  also present at the early stages of the fatal fight before being taken away by his mother.

Moore, who has five pages of previous convictions including a number for violence, did not give evidence during the trial.

He denied murdering his brother and claimed his brother started  the fight.