A killer who abducted and tortured his friend who later plunged to his death from a 12th-storey Aberdeen flat has been jailed for eight years.
Lee Smith, 37, was locked up on Wednesday for taking the life of Jamie Forbes, also 37.
The High Court in Edinburgh was told Smith held Mr Forbes against his will at the offender’s flat in Elphinstone Court on January 14 and January 15 2024.
Smith repeatedly struck his victim with a hammer and punched and kicked him while Mr Forbes was captive.
Judge Lady Hood heard how the two-day-long ordeal inflicted on Mr Forbes was so bad that he had no other option but to jump out the window.
His lifeless body was found on the ground shortly afterwards at 3.25pm on January 15 2024.
When Smith, now a prisoner of HMP Grampian in Peterhead, pled guilty to Jamie’s culpable homicide, it was revealed he’d already been jailed three times before for violent crimes.
It also emerged that, despite having a lengthy criminal record stretching back to 2003, Smith was roaming free on no less than two bail orders when he killed Jamie.
Sentencing for Smith’s latest shocking crime was deferred so the court could obtain reports.
Today, the case called again for Smith to learn of his punishment, with Lady Hood telling him he needed to go to prison.
She also ordered him to be supervised by the authorities for four years following his release.
Passing sentence, Lady Hood told Smith his victim’s family had provided a statement to the court detailing how the loss of their loved one had affected them.
She said: “I’ve seen a victim impact statement which has been provided to the court by Mr Forbes’s sister.
“She has explained, movingly, how loved Mr Forbes was and how she found it difficult to find the words needed to convey how much their lives have been torn apart by the loss of their loved one.
“No sentence I can impose can possibly address the pain and suffering that she has felt.”
Killer’s flat covered in blood
Earlier this year, prosecution lawyer Leanne McQuillan told the court of how police officers attended Smith’s flat shortly after Mr Forbes had fallen to his death.
They found that the lock had been “reversed” which would have prevented Mr Forbes from leaving.
Smith, who suffers from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, was discovered washing up in his kitchen and bloodstains were observed throughout the flat.
The killer had been alone in the property for up to 40 minutes after the fatal fall, potentially cleaning for the entire duration.
Ms McQuillan added: “The accused’s behaviour began to fluctuate dramatically, one minute he would be extremely agitated then the next, docile, eating chocolate and drinking milk.
“In discussion with police and in answer to their questions, the accused informed the officers that he was refusing to clean up the blood in the living room as it wasn’t his and he was waiting for the deceased to do it.
“The accused became upset and went through to the kitchen attempting to clean further stating he had OCD and had to be restrained briefly by PC Stevenson to stop.
“It was then decided the accused was to be arrested.”
Repeated 999 calls to police – but victim never traced
Ms McQuillan said Mr Forbes was last captured on CCTV entering the block on January 14 2024.
A timeline presented to the court revealed that Police Scotland may have taken around two hours to respond to the first of multiple 999 calls from people who heard Mr Forbe’s desperate screams for help.
Officers had a window of seven hours after the first 999 call to save Mr Forbes.
Ms McQuillan said that at 8.15am on January 15, a contractor working nearby heard a “male voice” shouting for the police. He thought it was coming from between the 10th and 16th floor of the block.
At the same time, a nearby resident also reported hearing a male repeatedly shouting for help but wasn’t sure where it came from. She called 999.
Lady Hood heard how just after 10am, a resident of the 10th floor heard a male voice repeatedly shouting “please help me”.
He went out onto the balcony to try and work out where it was coming from but could not see anyone. He believed the shouting was coming from above him.
Two residents who lived directly above the accused also heard shouting for help. They looked down and saw the window below was open and saw a male shouting for help and the police.
A number of other witnesses saw a male at a window of the flat with blood on his face calling for help. There were more calls made to the police.
Flat visitors didn’t call police
Ms McQuillan said: “Police officers attended and made door-to-door enquiries on the 6th, 7th and 8th floor but were not able to trace the source of the shouting.
“They left the locus advising the construction workers to call back if the shouting started again.”
The court heard that two drug users – called Szymon Strzelcyk and Cindy Alexander – went into the Smith’s flat, arriving at 12.16pm.
The pair had previously contacted Smith to ask him to help them with sourcing a fix.
Strzelcyk and Alexander noticed that the handle of the front door did not look right. It looked as if it had been reversed.
Ms McQuillan said: “The accused became angry and told Strzelcyk and Alexander that the deceased was within.
“He told them he had reversed the lock on the front door to keep him there.
“He said the deceased had stolen £40 from him and he was keeping him there for three days so he could ‘atone’ for what he had done.
“He also said he had ‘battered’ the deceased because of the stolen money.
“The deceased was seen by Strzelyk and Alexander to be lying on the living room floor in a pool of blood.
“He had multiple visible injuries including bruises and lacerations, and his face was bloodstained.
“He appeared to have soiled himself. The accused began to shout at the deceased and carried him into the bathroom.”
‘Significant and catastrophic’ injuries to Jamie Forbes
The court was told that Strzelcyk and Alexander heard Mr Forbes screaming from the bathroom.
Smith put Mr Forbes into a bath and told Strzelcyk to watch him while he put the terror-stricken man’s clothes in the washing machine.
Mr Forbes was later helped out of the bath, wrapped in a towel and taken into the bedroom, where Mr Forbes lay on the bed shivering.
Ms McQuillan added: “The accused then stormed through and began assaulting the deceased in the bedroom shouting ‘get off my bed you f***ing mink’.
“He was punching and kicking the deceased. Strzelcyk tried to stop it but was forced out of the room.”
Strzelcyk and Alexander then left the flat at 3.13pm, having spent around three hours inside while Mr Forbes suffered.
During that time, neither attempted to free him or contact the emergency services while they remained inside the property.
Just 12 minutes after Strzelcyk and Alexander left, Mr Forbes plunged from the 12th storey.
The pair, who were treated as witnesses not accomplices, only contacted the police once officers were already on the scene.
Ms McQuillan said a post-mortem carried out on Mr Forbes found injuries that were “significant and catastrophic”.
She added: “External examination noted the deceased to have multiple blunt force injuries – bruises, abrasions and lacerations to his head, face, body and all four limbs.
“Several injuries to the deceased’s face were found to be healing and thus had not been sustained as a result of the fall.
“He was also found to have incised wounds to his hands which were consistent with defensive wounds from a sharp object.
“There were extensive fractures across all aspects of his body, and severe and extensive internal injuries.”
Killer’s drug addiction
On Wednesday, Smith was represented by Brian McConnachie KC who spoke of Smith’s drug problems.
The advocate said: “He is under no doubt that only a custodial sentence is appropriate.
“There is genuine remorse and insight into his actions on his part.”
Lady Hood said the sentence imposed on Smith reflected the fact that he took “full responsibility” for his actions.
She added: “You appear to show full insight and high levels of remorse for your actions.”
Police Scotland’s handling of the entire incident has been probed by the Police Investigations & Review Commissioner (PIRC).
The PIRC’s report was submitted to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) in June this year.
A COPFS spokesman said: “The Procurator Fiscal has received a report on the death of a 37-year-old man in Aberdeen on 15 January 2024.
“The investigation into the death is ongoing and significant developments will be shared with the family as the investigation continues.”
A potential future fatal accident inquiry into Jamie’s death could not be ruled out by the Crown Office official who explained that the current investigation forms part of the process for deciding whether to hold a court probe.
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