BLANTYRE MAN WHO STABBED GRANDMOTHER 16 TIMES SENTENCED
Walter Weir was sentenced after causing the death of Margaret Burke by stabbing her 16 times outside her residence in South Lanarkshire.The attack took place in July 2010, when Weir assaulted the 60-year-old family friend in Blantyre as she attempted to soothe him.
The High Court in Glasgow was informed that Weir posed a threat to both himself and others, with a psychiatrist diagnosing him with paranoid schizophrenia and anti-social personality disorder.
It was also revealed that Weir had been hearing voices in the days prior to the incident, believing that residents of Blantyre were intent on harming him.
Concerned about his mental health, his mother and sister called emergency services and urged him to see his general practitioner, but when authorities arrived, he appeared subdued and refused hospital admission.
Later that day, he was found wandering the streets armed with a Samurai sword and a butterfly knife.
When Mrs.
Burke approached him in an attempt to de-escalate the situation, he turned hostile and inflicted fatal wounds, including a stab to the heart.
Police apprehended Weir later that morning after deploying CS gas when he initially refused to surrender the weapons.
During sentencing, Lord Brailsford noted Weir’s significant mental health struggles, stating he would be detained indefinitely at the State Hospital.
The court recognized his hallucinations and diagnosed mental illness as factors influencing his conduct, leading to a non-term detention order to ensure ongoing treatment and safety.
