Young mother was stabbed to death as her baby daughter slept in room next door Bouncer found not guilty of murder

A jury at the High Court in Airdrie found Mr Robert Brown, 26, not

guilty of murdering Ms Pamela McAllister, 21, who had been stabbed and

slashed 57 times.

Mr Brown was also found not guilty of attempting to murder Ms

McAllister's boyfriend, Mr Ian Gray, 32, by stabbing him repeatedly on

the body and head.

Ms McAllister was murdered at the home she shared with Mr Gray in

Beauly Place, East Kilbride.

There were gasps in court when the jury foreman announced both

verdicts which he said were majority decisions.

Two of Ms McAllister's relatives burst into tears and shouted: ''Oh,

no!''

Outside the court, a furious Mr Gray pointed to scars on his face and

neck.

Ms McAllister's cousin, Mrs Danna Clerk, 40, of East Kilbride, wept as

she said: ''That girl was butchered. There is no justice.

''A jury . . . it's just a laugh.''

The court had heard evidence from Mr Gray that Mr Brown, nicknamed

Robo, had called at the flat on November 14 last year.

Mr Gray, who admitted he had spent six years in jail for drugs

offences, had claimed that Mr Brown said the flat's owner owed him

money.

He told the court an arguement had broken out and Mr Brown pulled a

knife in the living room.

Ms McAllister tried to stop the fight and Mr Gray alleged Mr Brown

threw her on to a coffee table, which collapsed.

He said: ''The next I saw, Brown was astride her on the floor

slashing. Pamela was shouting, 'Robo, my baby'.''

He also gave evidence that Mr Brown stabbed and slashed him

repeatedly.

Mr Gray was found collapsed with knife wounds outside the flat.

However, Mr Brown, of Trinidad Way, East Kilbride, lodged a special

defence naming Mr Gray as the killer.

He said he had no idea why he had been accused.

He added that Mr Gray, armed with two knives, had attacked him and

that Mr Gray had stabbed Ms McAllister repeatedly during the fight.

Mr Brown said he fled from the flat believing he was being pursued by

Mr Gray.

He denied he himself had a knife in his hands at any time.

He was uninjured apart from a slash wound on his left hand which he

said came as he grabbed a knife blade wielded by Mr Gray.

At first, Mr Gray told police officers that two hooded men had forced

their way into the flat. He said he later changed his story when he

found out Ms McAllister was dead.

Last night, East Kilbride Police Superintendent Willie Short was asked

if there would be further inquiries made into the murder.

He said: ''We can make no comment at the moment except to say we are

awaiting instruction from the Crown Office.''

Ms McAllister's baby, Monika, was just five monthsold and sleeping

peacefully in her cot in the next door bedroom when her mother was

murdered.

She is now being brought up by her grandmother, Mrs Jola Majak, 51, at

her home in East Kilbride.

Because Monika looks so like her mother, it has helped Polish-born Mrs

Majak through the pain of losing her only child.

However, Ms McAllister's relations still do not know who her killer is

after yesterday's verdict.

All they know is that Ms McAllister died from knife wounds. Her

injuries were so horrific that the trial judge, Lord Clyde, ruled that

the jury should not see the photographs of her body.

Ms McAllister's cousin, Mrs Beata Sim, 26, of Rutherglen, was in tears

as she left the court after hearing the verdicts.

She said yesterday: ''What happens now? Who did kill Pamela? Who will

be charged? What will we one day tell Monika?

''Monika is now 11 months old and getting all the care and love she

can get from her gran. She is the image of her mother and this has

helped Jola through this terrible ordeal.

''Monika is very happy and of course is far too young to know what

happened. But she will have to be told one day.''