A learning-disabled man who stabbed his nephew to death at his home on Orkney has been locked up indefinitely in a high-security psychiatric hospital.
Erlend Fraser killed William Fraser in a frenzied knife attack that left the 21-year-old with 20 stab wounds, including one that punctured his heart.
The tragic ordeal unfolded at the 50-year-old man’s home in St Margaret’s Hope, South Ronaldsay, on June 19 last year, when William’s body was repeatedly struck with the knife.
A judge previously heard how the young victim’s horrifying death has had a devastating impact on his parents and sisters.
His uncle originally faced a charge of murder, however, the killer’s guilty plea to the lesser charge of culpable homicide with diminished responsibility was instead accepted by prosecutors.
A court heard that the accused is living with a mental disorder in the form of a learning disability.
The judge first considered reports on him and heard expert advice from a consultant forensic psychiatrist.
He then decided that imposing a compulsion order with restrictions on Fraser’s discharge was the most appropriate action to take.
On Thursday, Lord Matthews told him at the High Court in Edinburgh: “This is for your benefit rather than a punishment for what you did”.
Orkney man won’t be freed without tribunal to discuss conditions
The judge added that he hoped Fraser would comply with the treatment that would be available to him at the State Hospital at Carstairs.
Any decision to allow him access to the community in the future would be under conditions set by a tribunal with Scottish Government ministers’ oversight.
Defence counsel Michael Meehan KC told the court that there was no opposition to the court order imposed on his client.
In an earlier hearing, the court was told that William’s fatally injured body, which suffered wounds to his chest, neck, back and left arm, was discovered in his uncle’s toilet.
William’s visit to his uncle Erlend took a nasty turn
William had been with friends before ending up at Fraser’s door on the night of the killing.
The exact details of the deadly drama that unfolded next are still not known.
Prosecutor Alan Mackay said Fraser sent a text to his own dad around 7am asking him to come to his home.
“At that stage, he told his father that he had stabbed William Fraser,” Mr Mackay explained.
It was his sister and her partner who instead arrived.
The advocate depute added: “She had never seen him so excited before. They followed him into the living room and noticed the blood on the two sofas and on the floor.
“They asked where William was and he said in the toilet. He was in the toilet. His legs were bent at the knee. He was on his back and he was dead.
“Fraser was pacing around the house and was heard to say, ‘piece of s***’.”
After being held, he asked police “what he was looking at” for the killing.
Erlend Fraser had mental disorder
Fraser later told doctors that William had turned up at his home and he had let him in fearing he might disturb his neighbours.
He claimed his nephew had been “aggressive” and allegedly violent and that was why he reacted.
The previous hearing was told that Fraser had a mental disorder described in the “form of learning disability” that he has lived with since birth.
It led to him suffering from an abnormality of the mind at the time, it was claimed in court.
Court hears of family ‘struggle’ since William’s Orkney stabbing
Mr Mackay said William’s family had penned emotional victim impact statements that detailed how their lives had been affected by the fatal stabbing of their loved one.
“William’s tragic passing has left all of us in fear of the future and struggling,” they stated.
“We all feel part of us has died and struggle to find solace in the things we used to enjoy.”
William, who was talented at computing, had been accepted to study at St Andrew’s University.
Instead, he later started working as an IT technician with the local council, however, he lost his job during the Covid-19 pandemic.
William moved into his own flat but then suffered from personal issues.
The court was told he had previously “got on well” with his uncle, having a shared interest in films and online games.