Joseph McGinlay

Case record: Joseph McGinlay

Background

Joseph McGinlay was 40 when he was sentenced in 1997. He was from Dalmellington in Ayrshire. He was one of the few men in Scottish legal history to have been allowed out of prison to murder again. He was on weekend leave from Noranside Open Prison, near Forfar.

When he was 18, McGinlay was jailed for life at the High Court in Glasgow for the murder of 16-year-old Mrs Elizabeth Cassidy. He was also sentenced to 10 years for the attempted murder of her friend, Josephine Humphreys, 13.

The offence

On the weekend leave period, McGinlay strangled 22-year-old Mandy Barnett and stabbed her through the heart in her Edinburgh flat.

The dead woman's parents described the murder as “This last year of our lives has been a living nightmare which, hopefully, we can now put behind us. ” and said: “We are glad that the right verdict has been reached and, hopefully, McGinlay will spend the rest of his life behind bars. ” They also said: “We feel that the people that let these violent people out for weekends for drink, drugs, etc, should be answerable for their actions. ” They added: “Our lives are not going to be the same but now we can start looking forward.”

After the jury returned its verdict, they learned from Advocate-depute Michael O'Grady of McGinlay's violent past.

Lord MacLean told McGinlay: “It ranks amongst the worst he said he had experienced and, indeed, it ranks amongst the worst I have experienced both as a judge and as counsel.”

Lord MacLean described the death as brutal and said: “The death was a brutal one and the motive had not been explained but he inferred from all the evidence, including the state of the dead woman's clothing, that there was some sexual element on McGinlay's part. ” He also said: “What is clear to me is that she was a stranger to you and wholly innocent in relation to you.”

In sentencing, Lord MacLean stated that his defence counsel had rightly described the case as a dastardly crime.

Lord MacLean explained why a minimum period was recommended: “Firstly, this is the second brutal murder of a young woman you have committed in your lifetime. Secondly, the second murder was committed while you were in fact still serving a life sentence. ” “Thirdly, you may be very intelligent - the indications from the evidence was that that was the opinion some held of you - but you are also wicked and, in my opinion, you present a very serious danger so far as women are concerned.”

Investigation

The murder hunt which ended in McGinlay's arrest and conviction was launched after Miss Barnett failed to visit her boyfriend John Balsillie in prison.

When police got to her flat in the Fountainbridge area of Edinburgh, they found the victim's partly clothed body. She had been throttled and stabbed through the heart before her body was dumped in the bath.

Arrest

McGinlay changed his story a number of times but finally admitted having been at the flat in April last year.

He claimed he had been passing on cannabis so that Mandy could take it to Balsillie in jail.

Trial

After a jury at the High Court in Edinburgh found McGinlay guilty unanimously of murdering Miss Barnett, the dead woman's parents spoke of their relief that their nightmare had ended and questioned a system which allowed convicted murderers out to kill again.

Advocate-depute Michael O'Grady highlighted previous convictions:

• In July 1972, at Ayr Sheriff Court, when McGinlay was convicted of assault with intent to ravish and sentenced to two years residential training.
• In December 1974, at the High Court in Glasgow, when McGinlay was 18, he was found guilty of murder and attempted murder of victims who were girls aged 16 and 13.

Lord MacLean noted that when McGinlay murdered Mandy Barnett, he was still serving his sentence for the murder and was on weekend leave.

Sentencing

The only sentence Lord MacLean could impose was life imprisonment. He was empowered to recommend a minimum period McGinlay should serve before he was released on licence. In this case, Lord MacLean was going to recommend that McGinlay serve at least 30 years.

McGinlay was sentenced to life in prison in 1973. He was paroled in 1996.

On March 27, 1997, McGinlay was sentenced to life in prison (minimum 30 years).

Outcome

The jury returned its verdict of guilty unanimously for murdering Mandy Barnett.

McGinlay received a life sentence with a recommendation that he serve at least 30 years.

Other details

The case record described “SEX: M RACE: W TYPE: N MOTIVE: Sex. MO: Lust killer of females age 16 and 23 . DISPOSITION: Life term, 1973 (paroled 1996); life term, 1997.”

The victims named in the case were:

• Mandy Barnett, 22
• Elizabeth Cassidy, 16
• Josephine Humphreys, 13

The case record also mentioned Noranside Open Prison, near Forfar, and the Fountainbridge area of Edinburgh.