A thug who murdered a neighbour before trying to make it look like a burglary had gone wrong will spend at least 18 years in jail after being jailed for life today.
William Nimmo, 34, was found guilty of beating 56-year-old Robert – known as Stuart – Clelland to death at his flat in Galston, East Ayrshire, in a drunken row over noise.
Burly groundworker Nimmo, who is 6ft 2in and weighed 16 stone at the time in July last year, climbed over a 6ft fence to get to his neighbour before attacking him.
The trial heard that Nimmo had been playing music and using power tools in the garden of his mother’s home, where he was staying.
He went into a rage when shift worker Mr Clelland, a shoe factory foreman, politely confronted him about the noise late in the evening and asked him to turn it down.
William Nimmo (left), 34, murdered 56-year-old shift worker Robert Clelland (right), a shoe factory foreman, in Ayrshire before trying to make it look like a burglary had gone wrong
Nimmo reacted by inflicting appalling injuries on his neighbour – fracturing his skull, breaking his ribs and causing horrific facial fractures.
He then dragged Mr Clelland’s body into the hallway of his home and dumped his van nearby to make it look as if he had been murdered during a break-in.
Pathologist Dr John Williams said Mr Clelland died from blunt force trauma from a minimum of six blows to the face and at least a further four blows to the head.
Mr Clelland’s body was found hours later lying in the hallway of his home with pools of blood at his head, at the front door and in the courtyard of his flat on July 24, 2019.
Nimmo was cleared during the trial of attempting to defeat the ends of justice by moving Mr Clelland’s corpse.
Defence counsel Tony Graham told the High Court at Livingston today that Nimmo, who already had 24 previous convictions including five for violence, had accepted responsibility for killing Mr Clelland from an early stage.
Before his trial for murder began he had offered to plead guilty to a reduced charge of culpable homicide but that had been rejected by the prosecution.
He said: ‘It’s never been denied by Mr Nimmo that he took a human life. What can’t be mitigated is the degree of violence involved.
The murder scene: Mr Clelland was beaten to death at his flat in Galston, East Ayrshire, in 2019
‘What started off as a minor dispute escalated exceptionally quickly by the reaction on the part of the accused. It was a wholly inappropriate reaction to whatever the dispute was.
‘I don’t suggest it’s mitigatory at all, but realistically, by way of explanation, drink had been a factor here.’
Mr Graham said it was clear from what had been reported by the social worker that Mr Nimmo had an ‘unfavourable’ relationship with alcohol.
He added: ‘But for the history of alcohol and anger he would be a contributor to society rather than a burden upon it.’
Passing sentence, judge Lord Mulholland told Nimmo his neighbour had been doing no more than politely asking him to keep the noise down.
‘Despite this request you aggressively argued with him, calling him names and telling him that as it was your property you could do what you liked.
You then climbed over a six foot wall and entered his courtyard and subjected him to a savage beating.
‘The injuries which you inflicted on this man were horrific and you would have seen the results of your handiwork.
‘It should have been obvious to you that this man needed urgent medical attention yet all you did was drag his body into the hallway of his house and leave him there to his fate.’
He highlighted that neither Nimmo nor his stepfather had summoned an ambulance for the dying man.
‘Notwithstanding that his life was slipping away, you then removed a baby gate from the door of the house and took his van, abandoning it nearby with the doors open to make it look as if the deceased had been assaulted by an intruder in a break-in.
‘You said that you took his van for a joyride which, if true, would be an act of breath-taking callousness. You then tried to cover up your involvement in this brutal murder by lying to a female friend and the police.’
The judge added: ‘You are a violent man, as your criminal record discloses, and it is clear to me that you have a violent temper which is particularly dangerous when fuelled by alcohol.
‘I sentence you to life imprisonment, which is the punishment prescribed by law and I fix a punishment part of 18 years imprisonment which is the period of time that you must serve before being eligible for parole.
‘I should add that there is no guarantee that you will ever be released on parole. Whether or not you are to be released is a matter for the parole board to determine, who in considering any application will assess the danger that you pose to the public.
He ordered that the sentence should run from July 31, 2019, the date Nimmo was first ordered into custody by the court.
Celtic FC supporter Mr Clelland was separated from wife Linda Hall, 54, and lived only with his dog Sophie.
David Green, Procurator Fiscal for Major Crime and Homicide at the Crown Office said: ‘William Nimmo confronted his victim with the intent of doing him serious harm. Mr Clelland’s death was the result of a brutal and sustained assault.
‘The proper investigation of this crime and effective prosecution of the case has ensured that he now faces a very substantial prison sentence.’
Detective Chief Inspector Alan Sommerville, the senior investigating officer, said : ‘Our thoughts continue to be with Stewart’s family, during what has been a really difficult time for them.
‘The sentence given today to Nimmo will not compensate for their loss, but he will now spend a considerable amount of time in prison facing the consequences of his actions. I would again like to thank all those who assisted this investigation.’