Edith McAlinden

Case record: Edith McAlinden

People

• Edith McAlinden (born 1968) — accused; convicted for murder; mother of John McAlinden; defendant in the High Court proceedings at Glasgow and Dunfermline.
• John McAlinden (17 at trial; age 16 described in connection with the crime) — accused; Edith McAlinden’s son.
• Jamie Gray (16 at the time described of the killings) — accused; friend of John McAlinden.
• David Gillespie (42) — murder victim; boyfriend of Edith McAlinden.
• Ian Mitchell (67) — murder victim; landlord/tenant at Dixon Avenue, Crosshill, Glasgow; referred to by McAlinden as “Pops”.
• Tony Coyle (71) — murder victim; flatmate of Ian Mitchell.
• James Sweeney — neighbour; contacted police after seeing the hallway and the flat.
• Isher Singh Dass — lived below the flat; told the trial he heard a “noise like thunder”.
• Bryan Gallagher — homeless unit resident; visited police station to file a claim that John McAlinden had boasted about the murders.
• Violet Cahill (45) — David Gillespie’s former partner; mother of his children (as described); commented on the sentencing.
• Detective Superintendent Willie Johnstone — led the inquiry; commented on the crime scene.
• Lady Dorrian — judge who fixed the punishment part and set minimum tariffs for parole eligibility.
• Prosecutor Sean Murphy QC — prosecuting counsel; made statements about the violence and evidence.
• BBC Scotland investigations correspondent Bob Wylie — made commentary used in the trial reporting.
• Michelle Morrow — named in connection with prison relationships as a drug dealer.
• Pamela Gourlay — named in connection with prison relationships as a murdering chef.
• Tony Coyle is also referred to as Anthony Coyle in some scraped fragments.

Timeline

• June 29, 2005 — Edith McAlinden was sentenced to life imprisonment.
• May 13, 2005 — trial reporting included that a bus driver testified to hearing “noise like thunder” and that the ceiling shook just hours before the three men were found dead.
• May 26, 2005 — reporting described that three guilty pleas were accepted at the High Court in Glasgow.
• May 2005 — Edith McAlinden, John McAlinden and Jamie Gray appeared at Glasgow High Court; all initially denied murdering Ian Mitchell, Anthony Coyle and David Gillespie; pleas later changed during trial.
• June 30, 2005 — reporting described the minimum tariff decisions for parole eligibility, including that Edith McAlinden’s minimum tariff was set and that John McAlinden and Jamie Gray must serve minimum terms before parole.
• October 16, 2004 — Edith McAlinden was released from prison after serving nine months for a serious assault.
• October 17, 2004 — triple murder at a flat in Crosshill, Glasgow, Scotland; Edith McAlinden called her son for help and later alerted neighbour James Sweeney; police were called.
• October 18, 2004 — Edith McAlinden was formally charged next day, Monday 18 October, at Glasgow sheriff court for the murders.
• Two weeks later — homeless unit resident Bryan Gallagher visited police station to file his claim about John McAlinden boasting.

Background

Edith McAlinden was a British murderer convicted in connection with a triple murder at a flat in Crosshill, Glasgow, Scotland, involving David Gillespie, Ian Mitchell, and Anthony/Tony Coyle. She had been released from prison on Sunday 16 October 2004, after serving a nine-month sentence for a serious assault.

Edith McAlinden visited a top-floor flat on Dixon Avenue in Crosshill, where her boyfriend David Gillespie (42) shared the flat with Anthony Coyle (71) and landlord Ian Mitchell (67), whom McAlinden referred to as “Pops”.

The offence

An argument erupted between McAlinden and Gillespie during a drinking session. McAlinden stabbed Gillespie repeatedly in the thighs, severing a femoral vein in one thigh, which caused him to bleed to death.

McAlinden telephoned her son John McAlinden for help. John arrived by taxi with his friend Jamie Gray. McAlinden persuaded Mitchell to pay for their taxi fare, and he agreed mistakenly believing that John and Jamie Gray had come to help Gillespie.

When John realised Mitchell was a witness, John fatally stabbed Ian Mitchell and kicked his head repeatedly, causing his brain to bleed heavily. Tony Coyle escaped to his bedroom, where he locked himself in. John and Jamie used a drill to remove the door locks and forced their way into the bedroom. Jamie chased and beaten Coyle to death with a golf club.

Afterwards, at approximately 3AM, McAlinden went to neighbour James Sweeney’s house and claimed something had happened at Ian Mitchell’s flat. She begged him to check. Sweeney went to the flat and once he saw the state of the hallway, he phoned 999 on his mobile phone.

The flat was widely described as being covered in blood, leading to the killings being nicknamed “The House of Blood.” Reports described walls and floors covered in blood, human tissue and pieces of skull and brain stuck to the floor and curtains, and three corpses crumpled and scattered around an area containing weapons and objects including an axe, knives, a hammer, lumps of wood, a baseball bat, golf clubs, metal files, a belt, and an electric drill that had apparently been used to remove bedroom locks. Reports also described boiling water being poured over heads in connection with attempts to check if victims were alive.

Investigation

Police and paramedics arrived and found McAlinden alone, clinging to Gillespie’s body, screaming at him to wake up.

McAlinden was formally charged the next day, Monday 18 October 2004, at Glasgow sheriff court for the murders.

During the investigation, police speculated McAlinden did not act alone, describing that there was so much blood in the flat that it was impossible to be precise about the details of the violence.

Homeless unit resident Bryan Gallagher visited a police station to file a claim that his fellow resident, John McAlinden, had boasted about the murders the night before. John and Jamie Gray were arrested and formally charged.

Arrest / Charging

• October 18, 2004 — Edith McAlinden was formally charged at Glasgow sheriff court for the murders.
• After Bryan Gallagher’s claim, John McAlinden and Jamie Gray were arrested and formally charged.

Trial

In May 2005, Edith McAlinden, John McAlinden and Jamie Gray appeared at Glasgow High Court. They initially all denied murdering Ian Mitchell, Anthony Coyle, and David Gillespie.

During the trial, the prosecutor Sean Murphy QC claimed that the victims had been beaten and attacked in multiple ways, including with knives, metal files, a belt, pieces of wood, a bottle, punching, stabbing and stamping on the head, and boiling water poured over them.

The defendants changed their pleas during the trial:

• John McAlinden admitted he killed Mitchell.
• Jamie Gray admitted killing Coyle.
• Edith McAlinden admitted killing Gillespie.

Witness testimony and trial detail included in reporting

• Bus driver Isher Singh Dass testified that he heard a “noise like thunder” and the ceiling shook just hours before three men were found dead in the flat above.
• A witness description also noted that Coyle had locked himself in a bedroom and was the only witness in the flat apart from McAlinden, her son, and Gray.
• Reports described that the jury was shown a video of the carnage inside the flat; the prosecutor warned the jury it was distressing.
• In reporting that quoted trial material, prosecutors described the attacks as including an axe, a baseball bat, golf clubs, a hammer, boiling water, knives, metal files, a belt, and pieces of wood.

Verbatim quotations included

“Wake up, wake up, don't do this to me”
— McAlinden, described as screaming at Gillespie when police arrived.

“there was so much blood in the flat that it was impossible to be precise about the details of the violence.”
— a police record used during the trial.

“The crime scene was the most chilling I have every visited.”
— Detective Superintendent Willie Johnstone.

“She took a father’s life and she’ll be free in 13 years.”
— Violet Cahill, shouted as Edith McAlinden was led below.

“I recognise that you were initially charged with three murders whereas the Crown have accepted a plea to one murder and that in very different terms from the way in which it was originally charged.
“In all the circumstances I fix the punishment part at 13 years. “In doing so, I have taken account of the fact that you tendered a plea of guilty, which although tendered during trial, nevertheless cut short what would otherwise have been a much longer trial. “And I have reduced the punishment part from the 14 which I would otherwise have imposed.” — Lady Dorrian.

“I am just disgusted, yet they go down the stairs laughing as if the whole thing is a big joke.
“There are animals on the street better than these people. They are scum. “My children stay up crying all night because they've lost their dad.” — Violet Cahill.

“I hope they rot in hell for what they've done to two old men and my ex-partner.
“Justice should be done for the horrific things that they've done, knives and axes and drills and kettles - they said they put boiling water over them to see if they were dead - how evil can people get?” She added: “Edith McAlinden, in particular, is a monster.”
— Violet Cahill.

Sentencing

On June 29, 2005, Edith McAlinden was sentenced to life imprisonment.

In sentencing remarks and reporting, Lady Dorrian fixed the punishment part for Edith McAlinden at 13 years, reflecting a reduced punishment part from what she would otherwise have imposed, and taking account of Edith McAlinden tendering a plea of guilty that cut short what would otherwise have been a much longer trial.

Reporting also stated that:

• Edith McAlinden was expected to serve in prison until at least 2018, and that she would have to serve a minimum tariff of 13 years before being eligible for parole.
• John McAlinden and Jamie Gray were each given a minimum tariff of 12 years before parole consideration.

Appeals

No appeal information appeared in the provided material.

Outcome

Edith McAlinden received a life sentence and a minimum term for parole eligibility as set by Lady Dorrian on June 29, 2005. John McAlinden and Jamie Gray received minimum tariffs for parole eligibility alongside that sentencing.

Aftermath

Following sentencing, reporting said the public benches packed with relatives and friends erupted in anger during the sentencing. McAlinden was later described as arriving at Cornton Vale, where she boasted about being the woman from “The House of Blood.” Reporting also described that some prisoners took her aside and told her she was in trouble.

Later prison relationships were described, including that McAlinden embarked on lesbian affairs with Michelle Morrow and Pamela Gourlay.

A neighbour report included that McAlinden had told James Sweeney something had happened at Ian Mitchell’s flat and begged him to check, which led Sweeney to call 999 after seeing the hallway.