TWO men have been convicted of murder after viciously assaulting their victim on his birthday, leading to his death almost three weeks later.
Malcolm McCandlish passed away in hospital following the violent head-kicking attack in Irvine town centre in September 2024.
The 43-year-old was set upon by Simon Roberts, 38, and Sean McKie, 37, in High Street and knocked unconscious, initially declining emergency treatment before succumbing to his injuries in hospital.
Roberts, who claimed he had acted in self defence, and McKie were found guilty by a majority of jury members of killing Mr McCandlish on Tuesday afternoon, April 14, following a week-long trial at the High Court in Glasgow.
They will be sentenced later.
The court heard evidence from Mr McCandlish's sister, who told the trial that she was attacked in an earlier assault, before her brother was targeted by the duo.
Margaret McCandlish said her brother later refused ambulance treatment, as he 'just wanted to go home' after being knocked out, before waking 'spewing up blood' later that night.
Graphic CCTV and horrific mobile phone footage that was widely shared online after the attack was shown in court on several occasions.
The court was also shown screenshots of Irvine Times posts sent by Roberts to others on his phone after the incident.
Jason Pendlebury, the partner of Mr McCandlish's sister, said he was 'knocked out' during the same incident.
The trial was shown CCTV footage of Roberts and McKie drinking in the Northern Way pub earlier in the day.
The court was shown screenshots of Irvine Times posts headlined "Man in serious condition after assault in Irvine town centre" - shared by Roberts to contacts on his mobile phone using a smiley face and finger pointing emoji, with accompanying messages stating "FFS - hope he's alright" and "Just that video and c***s fly grassing and just grassing".
The court heard the video of the assault was also found on his device.
Giving evidence in his defence, Roberts said he was going to the bank when he met his ‘old friend Sean’, and they then spent time together in the pub.
He said: “We were just walking over to the Northern Way pub. Sean said 'Watch, they’ve got knives' or something. I didn’t have my glasses.
“I could tell they were being aggressive, I looked forward and saw two guys, there was a lady there but I didn’t really notice her.
“They said something about their sister and threatening to stab us."
Asked what he thought when watching the video footage, Roberts replied, “I thought 'oh no man'", adding it was "tragic".
He told the court: “When I found out he was in a bad way, it was a few days later, [I was] devastated, because of the hurt to himself, his family, and my family. I was just gutted."
Under cross-examination, advocate depute Michael MacIntosh suggested he had "gone out looking for trouble” and “we have heard evidence you did cause trouble earlier”.
Roberts denied “making this up as you go along” and that his evidence was “cobbled together”. It was put to him that the interaction "barely lasted any time before the first punch”.
Asked if he wanted to watch the footage again, he said “Not really, no”.
Defence advocate Thomas Ross KC said McKie would not be giving any evidence during the trial, closing the defence's case, later asking the jury to find him guilty of assaults but not murder.
After the closing of the Crown's case on Friday, April 10, the advocate depute told the court that prosecutors were no longer proceeding with four of the charges against the pair - with jurors to focus on the murder charge and a serious assault allegation.
Both were convicted of the two remaining charges on the indictment.
Judge Lady Drummond deferred sentencing for background reports to be prepared, with the court told that Roberts has five previous convictions for assault, including to severe injury and permanent disfigurement which involved the use of a knife.
He was last jailed for 14 months in 2021 for an assault which involved a blunt item.
Meanwhile, McKie has four previous convictions for assault, which included a 2011 case with the use of knives.
The judge said: "There is only one sentence for murder, which is life imprisonment, which is what I will be imposing."
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