Derek Grant Jailed For Killing Robber in Greenock Who Stole Son's iPhone

A father who killed a robber in a revenge attack for stealing his son's iPhone has been jailed for six years.

Derek Grant, 38, took the law into his own hands after Patrick Bradley, 29, threatened his son, John, at knifepoint and made off with his iPhone.

Instead of reporting the theft to the police, Grant sought out Bradley by himself, armed with a knife, and stabbed him to death following a confrontation in Greenock, Renfrewshire, the High Court in Livingston heard.

Grant's decision to find Bradley was described by his defence lawyer, Iain Duguid, as "a huge mistake".

He had used an app to locate the stolen phone on August 30 last year.

When he traced Bradley, a fight broke out ending with Grant stabbing Bradley five times with a blade. Prior to the stabbing, Bradley had plunged a knife through Grant's left eye - blinding him for life.

Grant, who was originally charged with murder, pleaded guilty to culpable homicide.

Judge Lord Boyd took into consideration that Bradley "was a man of violence" with "10 convictions for assault" before his death.

He told Grant: "But you, of course you did not know that. What you did know was that earlier that night Patrick Bradley had robbed your son of his mobile phone at knifepoint.

"Had he been caught it seems likely given his record that he would have been prosecuted in this court, the High Court, and on conviction would have received a High Court sentence.

"As it happens you had the means to bring him to justice because the phone had been easily located by the Find My iPhone app."

"All you needed to do was to phone the police and give them the information. However, you armed yourself with a knife and, along with your three sons, went looking for him."

Grant's defence lawyer said that decision was an error of judgment.

But the judge told the accused: "I can't accept that as a valid description. It's clear you were prepared to be met with violence - or at least the threat of violence - and went armed to meet it."

Lord Boyd acknowledged that Grant had lost an eye as a result of being stabbed and now had a lifelong disability, which had ended his career as a delivery driver.

He added: "I take into account you will have to live with the physical consequences of that event for the rest of your life and I have reduced the sentence accordingly.

"Nevertheless, the fact is you took the law into your own hands and went looking for a man you knew was armed with a knife armed with a weapon of your own."