John Reid was already subject to a supervision order when he killed Mr San A teenager who admitted killing a takeaway delivery driver in Edinburgh has been detained for five years.
John Reid, 16, attacked Simon San outside his family’s takeaway in Lochend Road on 11 August.
The 40-year-old, who was of Vietnamese origin, suffered serious head injuries and died the following day in hospital.
Reid, who had been on a supervision order, would have been detained for seven years and a half years had he not pleaded guilty to culpable homicide.
In his sentencing statement, judge Lord Matthews decribed Mr San as “a hard-working and much loved son and brother whose only crime was to have been in the wrong place at the wrong time”.
He came to Scotland with his family at the age of 12.
The court heard he was on shift at Yong Hua Garden takeway the night he was attacked by a gang of youths which included Reid.
“His car was rocked for no apparent reason whatsoever and when he emerged from it, showing no antagonism, you and your associates, acting like pack animals, forced him backwards until, without any provocation, you delivered a blow to his face which poleaxed him,” the judge said.
Mr San, who had no chance to defend himself, fell backwards and hit his head on the ground, causing extensive brain damage.
The attack on Mr San was said to have been completely unprovoked He was found by a barmaid from the nearby Loch Inn pub.
Reid is from Edinburgh and was described as having a “troubled background”.
The judge told him: “In your case I accept that the blow which you struck might on another day have led to no more than minor injury and that you could not have foreseen that death would result.
“However, despite your age I cannot divorce your actions from the surrounding circumstances.
“This was not just a glancing blow in the context of a stand up fight but the culmination of serious aggression towards an innocent victim.”
He said the consequences for Reid were insignificant compared to the devastation wreaked on Mr San’s family and that no sentence could compensate them for their loss.
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