Four years for 'Harry Potter' jibe stabbing teenager

A teenager has been detained for four years for stabbing a man who called him "Harry Potter" at a bus stop in Edinburgh.

The 17-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, attacked Liam McKechnie, 22, on Princes Street during an argument in the early hours of 17 March 2024.

Mr McKechnie was taken to hospital where he had emergency surgery to remove his spleen after the altercation, in which he made fun of the attacker's dark-rimmed glasses.

At an earlier hearing, the teenager admitted a single charge of striking Mr McKechnie on his body to "severe injury, permanent disfigurement, permanent impairment and to the danger of his life".

Prosecutor Margaret Barron told the High Court in Edinburgh the pair, who did not know each other, became involved in an argument at the bus stop at 00:45.

She said it turned into a fight when Mr McKechnie made reference to the bespectacled boy wizard from JK Rowlings' stories, telling the 17-year-old to "calm down, Harry Potter".

"During this altercation, the accused removed a knife from his pocket and stabbed the complainer to the torso," Ms Barron said.

She added that Mr McKechnie and his friends did not immediately realise he had been stabbed.

"Some people attempted to break up the scuffle and at some point a pair of glasses worn by the accused fell to the ground," Ms Barron said.

"The complainer felt a pain in his chest area and lifted up his top to reveal a stab wound to his torso."

He managed to walk a short distance away from the bus stop but was stabbed again by the teenager, suffering two further injuries to his torso.

The teenager was arrested three days later.

Defence solicitor advocate Iain McSporran KC told judge Lord Cubie that his client appreciated the seriousness of the crime and that people supporting him were impressed by his increasing maturity.

His request to consider a non-custodial sentence was refused by the judge.

"There are two lives which have been permanently affected by your decision to carry a knife that night," Lord Cubie told the teenager.

"It is a matter of luck that nothing more serious happened.

"The casual way you explained of why you carried a knife on that evening - because everybody else does it - is a depressing one.

"Given the nature and extent of the behaviour displayed on that night, I consider that the threshold for a custodial sentence has been met."