THE family of a 13-year-old boy who was killed in the street is backing a campaign for tougher sentencing in murder cases.
Jean McMurdo, the aunt of schoolboy Jon Wilson, who was murdered in September last year, said she hoped the move would allow something positive to come of the tragedy.
Killer Jordan McCready, 17, had drunk vodka and Buckfast and downed valium pills before attacking Jon as he made his way home in Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire, in the early hours of September 4.
McCready pleaded guilty to the murder at the High Court in Glasgow on Wednesday and Ms McMurdo said Jon's family are concerned about the minimum jail term he will be handed when he appears for sentencing next month.
She said: "When Jon was murdered, we all talked about what would happen to the people who did it and now we'll find out soon. It's really worrying.
"Life should mean life. Wee Jon's not got his life anymore, so why should his killer?
"McCready's only 17, he could be out of prison when he's in his thirties and we don't agree with that. Murderers should not be allowed out after 10 or 15 years. That's just not fair."
Ms McMurdo, Jon's other aunt Allyson Grey and cousin Emma Wilson are all committee members of the Our Beloved Angels Foundation, which runs the campaign in Jon's memory.
They became involved after the foundation organised a memorial walk for the murdered Kilmarnock Academy pupil in October. The group is now in the process of setting up a petition for their campaign, which they hope to take all the way to the Scottish Parliament.
Ms McMurdo said: "We're planning on setting up a petition over the next week and once that's done, the next step will be to go to the Parliament.
"We really hope everybody in the local community and the rest of Scotland back the campaign and sign the petition in wee Jon's memory.
"He was just a typical young boy, so full of life and a wee bit cheeky. He would have helped anybody who needed it."
She added that Wednesday was a hard day for the family, especially Jon's mother Nanette, as they heard how McCready boasted he had "jumped up and down" on Jon's head. The killer also claimed he was "glad" he had "done him in".
Ms McMurdo added: "It was really shocking and upsetting for us. The fact he boasted about what he did to Jon makes me feel sick and we didn't really know that until Wednesday, so it's been hard to take in.
"Nanette's in a real state, she just can't take in what has happened. She knows about the campaign and is happy with what we're doing, but she's really struggling at the moment so isn't involved."
The campaign group has already met several politicians, including MSP for the South of Scotland, Graeme Pearson, who has advised them on how to set up the petition.
Chairwoman Margaret Crawford said: "We want to go to the Scottish Parliament to state our case and are in the process of setting up the petition. We feel the judicial system is far too soft. People go to prison for murder, then they're out again in 15 years and free to re-offend.
"If someone is convicted of murder, they should be in prison for the rest of their days because, at the end of the day, why should they be free to roam the streets when their victims can't?"
At the court hearing on Wednesday, prosecutor John Scullion said Jon suffered significant head injuries in the attack and died in hospital two days later.
When McCready was caught, he was found to have kicked Jon so hard he had bruising to his own feet.
The court heard he also carried out two other early-hours attacks after the murder.
Judge Lady Stacey deferred sentence until next month. McCready faces a mandatory life term but the minimum number of years he will spend in prison is yet to be decided.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article