Pair jailed for killing man in Yoker after he asked them to turn down rap music

Kristopher Reynolds, 32, and Martin Argyelan, 27, carried out the horrific attack on 52-year-old Jim Thomson, who was Reynolds' mother's lover.

The killing took place at Reynolds' mother's home at Harbury Place, Yoker on May 11, last year, after Mr Thomson complained he could not sleep for the loud music. A piece of the pool cue penetrated his brain.

Both men denied murdering Mr Thomson, but were convicted of the lesser charge of culpable homicide at the High Court in Glasgow.

Argyelan admitted striking the killer blow and Reynolds was convicted on an art-and-part basis.

READ MORE: Dad-of-three guilty of killing mum's childhood sweetheart with pool cue

READ MORE: West George Street assault investigation launched by police

Reynolds was jailed for seven years and ordered to be monitored in the community after his release for three years. Argyelan was sentenced to nine years and six months and will be monitored for three years after his release.

The court heard that Mr Thomson, who was married, but separated, had moved in with Reynolds' mother Karen Millar in February 2018.

The night of the killing Mr Thomson was in bed and staff nurse Ms Millar was at work when the accused turned up at the house around 2am after a night out.

They began playing rap music loudly.

Mr Thomson, a mechanic with bus company McGills, asked the pair to turn down the music.

Tempers flared and Reynolds claimed he was punched on the face by Mr Thomson before the killing.

On sentencing, Lord Matthews made the following statement in court:

“You were convicted after trial of the culpable homicide of James Thomson, a much-loved husband, and father whose loss has been keenly felt.

“I have read impact statements from his widow, his son and his daughter and these dignified and heart-rending documents are a testimony to the huge gap that his death has left and will leave in their lives.

“No sentence I can impose will ever compensate for their loss, which resulted from the most mundane of arguments and the way it developed.

“The jury did not convict you of the charge of murder which you faced. This means that they were not satisfied that you either intended to kill Mr Thomson or acted towards him with the wicked recklessness and callousness which is entailed in the crime of murder.

“In fact, as counsel have said, and as was demonstrated in the evidence, Mr Thomson’s death was something of a freak occurrence, in unusual circumstances, the piece of pool cue which killed him penetrating a part of the skull where the bone structure is relatively weak. Had it been a few centimetres either side of where it went in we would not be here today.

“Nonetheless, pushing an object which comes to any sort of point, even one as relatively thick as the tip of a pool cue, into the vicinity of someone’s face clearly has the capacity to cause damage, as mothers will frequently tell their children. In this case the damage was a penetrating injury which entered the brain and brought about death.

“Mr Argyelan you have accepted that you were the one who inflicted that damage. Mr Reynolds, you were convicted on an art and part basis, the jury obviously accepting that you were party to an assault with the cue, albeit I have no doubt that you did not appreciate precisely how it was going to be used and in fact did not appreciate how it had been used till a much later stage.

“You both have records including convictions for violence and I am satisfied that in order to protect the public from serious harm from you on your release it will be appropriate and necessary to pass extended sentences on each of you.

“This means that after your release you will be subject to the conditions of a licence, the terms of which will be set by the Scottish ministers. Breach of the conditions will render you liable to be recalled to prison to serve out the remainder of the whole sentence.

“I have considered the evidence which I heard, your previous convictions, the terms of the reports, the impact statements and what has been said by your counsel.

“I am satisfied that I should distinguish between you because of the different roles you clearly played in this enterprise. It is not always possible to do so but in this case your individual responsibilities are fairly clear.

“Kristopher Reynolds, I pass on you an extended sentence to run from 22 August 2018. It consists of a custodial element of seven years and an extension period of three years. That is a total of 10 years.

“As far as you are concerned Martin Argyelan, I pass on you an extended sentence to run from 29 March 2019. It will consist of a custodial term of nine years and six months, with six months attributable to the bail aggravation. The extension period will also be three years, making a total of 12 years and six months.”