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| Christopher Grenfell jailed for life for James Simpson murder | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A car thief has been jailed for life after being convicted of murdering a pensioner by running him over with his own car outside his Lanarkshire home. | |
| Christopher Grenfell claimed the death of James Simpson, 76, on 29 November 2011, was accidental and his lawyers sought a verdict of culpable homicide. | Christopher Grenfell claimed the death of James Simpson, 76, on 29 November 2011, was accidental and his lawyers sought a verdict of culpable homicide. |
| But a jury convicted the 25-year-old of murder after hearing how he reversed over the OAP outside his Ashgill home. | |
| At the High Court in Glasgow, Grenfell was jailed for a minimum of 17 years. | |
| Judge Lord Burns told Grenfell that he was a menace on the roads and disqualified him from driving for life. | |
| The judge Mr Simpson's wife Minnie had "witnessed terrible events in front of her house and had to relive them in open court". | |
| Family trauma | |
| "The trauma for her and her family cannot be contemplated." | |
| Co-accused William MacVicar, 24, who did not face the murder charge, was convicted of car theft. | |
| During the trial, the court heard how the men stole Mr Simpson's 4x4 Land Rover Discovery from his driveway. | |
| Mrs Simpson told the jury how her husband ran downstairs and tried to stop the theft. | |
| She described how he opened the driver's door while she shouted at her husband to "come back and leave it". | |
| Mrs Simpson said: "A great relief went through me when I saw the car then going up the road. I was then very astonished when the car stopped suddenly and I went into despair when it reversed back to where it had been." | |
| Mrs Simpson said she remembered her husband was "whirled around and around". | |
| She told the trial: "I shouted stop, but no-one was listening." | |
| The court heard the Land Rover "went like a bullet" away from the scene before Mrs Simpson went to her husband's aid. | |
| The court also heard from the Simpsons' neighbour, retired GP Dr Donald Hopkins. | |
| Pulse weakening | |
| The 76-year-old ran out to help after hearing a bump and hearing a woman scream. | |
| He said that there was a body lying on the road and that even though it was his neighbour, he did not recognise him. | |
| Dr Hopkins said the man's face was covered in blood and he tried to keep his airways open. | |
| He added: "His pulse was steadily getting weaker and weaker and he was breathing less. And I thought I was going to lose him. | |
| "About two or three minutes before the police arrived, he died." | |
| The court was told by pathologist Dr Julia Bell that Mr Simpson sustained "unsurvivable crushing injuries" during the incident. | |
| These included multiple rib fractures, collapsed lungs and his spine being broken in two places. | |
| Accident claim | |
| Dr Bell told the court Mr Simpson would have been unable to breathe. | |
| Another witness, 33-year-old Neil Loggie, told the court how he had picked Grenfell up in Crossford, South Lanarkshire, after the theft. | |
| He said: "He (Grenfell) told me Mr Simpson came out the house, tried to pull him out of the car and he reversed over the top of him." | |
| Giving evidence, Grenfell admitted stealing Mr Simpson's car but claimed the pensioner's death had been an "accident". | |
| He offered to plead guilty to the lesser charge of culpable homicide, but this was rejected by the Crown. | |
| A jury convicted Grenfell of murdering Mr Simpson by majority verdict. |