A MAN who murdered a young father by battering him with a wooden post and punching and kicking him, has been sentenced to life in prison.
Matthew Pope, 22, murdered Michael Given at his victim's flat in Elders Court, Dundee, in the early hours of July 21 last year.
He was convicted after a trial at the High Court in Aberdeen heard he had left his victim, 29, in a pool of blood after attacking him with the piece of wood, which had nails in it. He also stamped on his body and repeatedly kicked and punched him.
He was convicted of murder and of assaulting another man in February 2013. At the High Court in Edinburgh yesterday, Pope was sentenced to serve at least 17-and-a-half years.
Andy Shanks, Procurator Fiscal High Court for the North of Scotland, said: "Taking the life of another is the gravest of crimes."
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