A man has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the brutal murder of a young Glasgow dad.

Liam Strang, 21, who was convicted of stabbing Stephen McGinlay in the neck in broad daylight, will serve a minimum of 16 years before being considered for parole.

His co-accused Brian Gallacher, 18, was sentenced to 10 years detention in a Young Offenders' Institution for the culpable homicide of Mr McGinlay.

Both were also given concurrent sentences of 18 months for assaulting Ryan Mason by pursuing him and hitting him on the head with a bottle.

Glasgow Times:

A jury at the High Court in Glasgow earlier found the two yobs guilty of attacking the defenceless 26-year-old with a knife or piece of glass in busy St George's Road on 2 October last year. The murder weapon has never been found.

Despite being fatally injured he managed to stagger into a nearby chip shop for help but the wound to his neck had severed two major blood vessels, causing massive loss of blood.

The cause of death was his brain being starved of oxygen. No motive was given for the killing and the murder weapon was never recovered, however part of the attack was captured on CCTV. The jury was shown a car stopping and Strang and Gallacher getting out the car and putting their hoods up. After the killing they got back in the car and were driven off.

Throughout their trial both men denied killing Stephen, who suffered unsurvivable injuries and was kept alive on a life support machine for three days. A Facebook photo of the pair together was later traced by detectives. It showed Gallacher wearing the same distinctive top worn on the day of the murder.

On the day the jury returned guilty verdicts last month, advocate depute Alex Prentice QC told the court: "Mr McGinlay had a daughter and it is her first birthday today. The family was reluctant to have the life support machine switched off, such was their sense of devastation."

Sentencing the evil pair at the High Court in Livingston today temporary judge John Morris told them: "You attacked an innocent young man in broad daylight with a lethal weapon in the street in Glasgow and took his life.

"I want to make it clear to you and anybody who is listening that such acts of wanton violence can't be tolerated in a civilized society."

Outside court Stephen's heartbroken mum Catherine, 48, revealed she'd been unable to attend the trial because she'd suffered a nervous breakdown after the murder of her son.

She said: "I had to come here to see them getting sentenced. I'm really happy with what they got and it's about time they got it.

"I'm sorry, but I hope they rot in Hell, and if they had the gas chamber here I'd ask for that."

Strang's defence counsel Neil Murray QC claimed his client had had difficulties since primary school age and had been diagnosed with ADHD.

He added: "The remorse he feels for the family is expressed in the most trenchant terms. It was clearly deep and sincere."

John Scott QC for Gallacher said his client had a limited criminal history with convictions at Justice of the Peace court level.

He added: "He was convicted on an art and part basis not of the murder but of the culpable homicide of Stephen McGinlay. A significant custodial sentence needs to be imposed on this very young man, however he intends to accept and undertake any courses for which he's assessed as suitable."