A MAN who beat his brother-in-law to death with a heavy fencing mallet and an axe has been found guilty of murder.

 

Builder Jimmy Smith, 58, claimed he had acted in self-defence when Alex Cameron attacked him and threatened to shoot his wife Helen Smith, 58.

He tried to cover up the crime by burying Mr Cameron's body under a pile of horse manure at the remote West Lothian farm he rented from him.

But yesterday a jury at the High Court in Livingston returned a majority verdict finding him guilty of murder rather than a lesser charge of culpable homicide.

They also reached a unanimous verdict convicting him of attempting to defeat the ends of justice by concealing the body and pretending to police he did not know where the missing man was.

Judge Lord Matthews told Smith he would be sentenced to life imprisonment and called for criminal justice social work reports before deciding his minimum term. Smith will be sentenced at the High Court in Edinburgh on August 4.

Following Smith's conviction, the family issued a statement thanking the jury for their time and deliberations in coming to "the true and lawful verdict".

Spokesman Ronnie Mill said: "Alex was a much-loved father, grandfather, brother, family member and friend to many. He is, and always will be, sorely missed by all who knew him.

"James Smith is a coward and a callous, evil, cunning and manipulative person who showed more compassion during evidence for a farmyard animal than he did for a human being.

"He struck a pensioner about the head and body with blunt instruments, bound his hands and feet and buried him in a shallow grave.

"He then tried to avoid detection by trying to remove DNA traces from the weapons he used and by phoning Alex after he had killed him to create an impression that he was concerned about his whereabouts."

The jury heard that his scheme collapsed when police, who had watched Mr Cameron drive onto the farm on the day he died, announced they were going to search the buildings and surrounding fields for Mr Cameron's body.

When they arrived at the farmhouse, Smith put two envelopes - one marked "Police" and the other "Helen" - on the table in front of him and told officers: "I'm glad it's over. I think that's what you're here for."

Inside the "Police" envelope was a signed confession setting out how he had used the weapons to kill Mr Cameron.

He then pointed to where he had buried the body under a pile of horse manure next to the stable block.

He admitted that he had killed Mr Cameron and disposed of his white Citroen Berlingo van in Edinburgh.

He then went to a corner of the kitchen and pointed to a large axe and a sledge hammer, stating: "I picked up these and just started to hit him with them.

"They were going to shoot Helen. We were tired of threats."

Under questioning during the trial, Smith rejected suggestions that he was guilty of "an act of supreme callousness" by phoning the dead man's phone two days after he had beaten him to death.

Mr Cameron's body was later exhumed from the shallow grave where it had been concealed under paving slabs and a pile of horse manure.

Consultant pathologist Dr Robert Ainsworth said that Mr Cameron's skull had been crushed, probably with a single blow from a large fencing hammer.

He also suffered a broken neck, multiple skull fractures, several broken ribs and numerous facial injuries including broken cheekbones, two black eyes and a smashed nose.

Dr Ainsworth, 41, said Mr Cameron had probably died very soon after suffering the principal injury, which crushed the top of his skull and may have caused his spine to snap at the top.

Smith had admitted killing 67-year-old Mr. Cameron by repeatedly striking him on the head with a log-splitting axe and the fencing hammer and burying the body in a shallow grave.

But he denied that the crime at West Cairns Farm, near Kirknewton, West Lothian, on January 19 this year was murder. Smith had also denied to attempting to defeat the ends of justice.