A VIOLENT thug whose victim died almost five years after being stamped and kicked on the head has been convicted of killing him.

Jason Gilmour, 29, left dad-of-one Scott Hepburn brain-damaged, paralysed from the neck and only able to communicate by blinking.

Mr Hepburn was cared for at a nursing home in Glasgow following the brutal attack.

Gilmour, who was sentenced to five years and four months after admitting assaulting Mr Hepburn to the danger of his life in 2102, was today found guilty of culpable homicide at the High Court in Glasgow.

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Gilmour was on trial accused of murdering Mr Hepburn, but the jury convicted him of the lesser charge of culpable homicide.

Pathologist Dr Marjorie Turner told prosecutor Richard Goddard: “I have no doubt Mr Hepburn's death was as a result of complications of his traumatic brain injury.”

Gilmour, of 54 Ladyford Avenue, Kilwinning, assaulted Mr Hepburn on June 11, 2012, at Hill Street, Ardrossan, Ayrshire, by repeatedly punching him on the head, causing him to fall to the ground and then repeatedly kicking and stamping on his head.

Scott was so severely injured that he died on April 17, 2017, at Greenfield Park Care Home, Glasgow, aged 23.

Care worker Esther Donald, 53, told the court Mr Hepburn had to be fed by a tube.

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Mr Goddard asked her: “Was he almost completely immobile,” and she replied: “Yes,” but added: “Sometimes he would wink or kind of lift the knuckles of one hand to say hello, like a kind of fist bump.”

Judge Lady Stacey deferred sentence on Gilmour until later this month for background reports.

She said: “I would find it of assistance to have as much information as possible before sentencing.”

Defence QC Tony Graham will give his plea in mitigation then.