THE father of former Hearts footballer Ryan McGowan has been jailed for life for the murder of his former brother-in-law.
James McGowan was sentenced to a minimum of 18 years in prison after he stabbed to death Owen Brannigan in 1999.
Mr McGowan, 58, knifed Mr Brannigan a total of 11 times. He was convicted by jurors at the High Court in Glasgow, who heard how there had been bad blood between McGowan’s family and the 47-year-old victim.
READ MORE: Prisoner reoffended ‘to get a bed’ after living in tent for two months
The attack in Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, occurred after McGowan returned from Australia for his mother’s funeral.
He went back but, in 2012, after his marriage fell apart he phoned he confessed in a call to an Australian mental health charity his crime.
The court heard he told a counsellor: “Once you’ve crossed the line and you jump back. You know you can always go across the line. You go ‘Jesus, I can’t kill people’. But I did.
“Some people can’t go across it and I know I went and done it and it’s ... frightening thing to deal with."
Australian and then Scottish police were informed of the call and he was extradited to face trial at the High Court in Glasgow.
The 58-year-old was yesterday jailed at the High Court in Glasgow having earlier been convicted of murder.
Lady Scott said he was guilty of a “brutal and cowardly” attack.
The judge added: “You took it upon yourself on a brief return for your mother’s funeral to seek out Mr Brannigan and murder him in a pre-meditated act of revenge.”
McGowan’s son Ryan was in court to see his father jailed for life. The pair exchanged brief smiles as the killer was led handcuffed to the cells.
A trial in Edinburgh heard how Mr Brannigan had been married to McGowan’s sister Carol before divorcing in 1984.
However, there remained ill-feeling between the McGowan family and Mr Brannigan in the lead-up to the murder. The killer pounced after a night-out at a social club in his former hometown of Coatbridge.
McGowan then returned to Australia earlier than planned.
READ MORE: Prisoner reoffended ‘to get a bed’ after living in tent for two months
But, in 2012, McGowan called a helpline there stating that something was “slowly eating away” at him.
The case was one of the first to be investigated by the Crown Office in Scotland’s cold case unit.
Mr Brannigan’s sister Bernadette has since said that the verdicts brought the family closure.
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