When looking for explanations as to how community champion Michael White came to be murdered, an anecdote he once told might hold the key.
Before his death, Michael often told the story of the time he was alone, walking down a strange road in arduous conditions.
He said: “I got down on my knee on the side of the road and prayed.
“I said: ‘If there is a God, can someone help me?’.
“A vehicle screeched to a halt and stopped.
“A lovely family in that car stopped their vehicle and carried me on through.
“Their random act of kindness showed me a way to be. I’m so grateful for them.”
He just wanted to help
That touching story took place in the early 1980s, when energetic adventurer Michael was in his 20s and full of wanderlust.
It was an experience that inspired him – and he spent the rest of his life ‘paying it forward’.
When Michael first met Michael Joyce and Antonia Gunn in Kyle of Lochalsh (known to locals simply as Kyle) and he just wanted to help them.
And that was typical of Michael’s character.
Hailing from the north-west of England, Michael began his career as a messenger boy in the iconic Manchester offices of the Guardian in 1978, when he was 18.
Ever willing to assist his colleagues, the teenager worked in multiple departments before leaving the newspaper at the end of 1984.
In a video interview before his death, Michael said he then “went off to become a success” in the south of England, working as a nurse for 24 years.
And then everything changed.
Michael added: “I met a fantastic lady. We got married and had a lovely marriage.”
His wife was Sally White – known on social media as Highland White.
Acts of kindness at much-loved B&B
The couple embarked on an adventure together helping people wherever possible.
Sally and Michael opened a bed and breakfast in Kyle at the Old Bank of Scotland and the reviews were – without exception – glowing.
Their son Joshua said: “The Old Bank was their pride and joy.
“When people left, their reviews would be less about the room and more about the welcome from my mum and dad.
“They went out and bought a Mitsubishi Shogun, put the Old Bank stickers on it and would take hotel guests out on a tour of Skye.
“My parents wouldn’t ask a penny from the guests.
“It was all about helping people – making that connection.”
The couple helped people overseas too.
When a massive earthquake struck Haiti in 2010, killing at least 100,000 people, the couple launched an online fundraising campaign.
They also started a ‘check-in’ page where people who were safe could reach loved ones.
The couple also helped the victims of the Queensland floods in 2010, raising vital funds for people made homeless.
‘He could never let the B&B go’
A year later, Michael’s world was shattered when Sally sadly passed away.
But Michael was determined to honour her in two ways.
First, he started a foundation in her memory and would hold coffee mornings and charity sales to raise money for good causes.
Second, Michael vowed to keep the B&B running by himself.
Joshua said: “The Old Bank was dad’s central connection to my mum.
“It was what reminded him of her most – and was her pride and joy and so he couldn’t let it go.”
Things were running well – until Covid arrived in February 2020 and the B&B was forced to close.
Michael made the best of it, launching his own online radio station and doing regular live videos in which supporters could socialise remotely and donate to the B&B and Mike’s good causes linked with Haiti.
He felt isolated during lockdown
In those videos, Michael was always smiling – but he admitted to finding it difficult to be isolated during lockdown.
And so perhaps it was no surprise that, when restrictions eased, he wanted to be around people.
Michael struck up a friendship with boyfriend and girlfriend Michael Joyce and Antonia Gunn.
That was despite a significant age gap. Michael was 59 in 2021 – when this all unfolded – while Joyce was 29 and Gunn was 24.
Joyce and Gunn lived on a flat in a converted cottage on Plock Road – two streets away from the B&B.
Things seemed normal at first – but then took a dark turn in the summer of 2021 when Joyce started violently attacking Michael.
During the trial, Gunn told the jury of the time she had heard Michael crying out in pain from another room.
But she was surprised that he was hurt so badly because – in her words – it had happened before.
Michael’s son Joshua spotted early red flags.
He said: “I live in England would go up to visit my dad.
“While I would be walking through Kyle, I’d be getting Facebook messages from people saying ‘Josh, we need to have a word about your dad. Let’s have a coffee’.
“Only it would be a Baileys,” said Joshua, referring to needing an alcohol drink due to the seriousness of the conversation.
‘They were hitting my dad. Nobody stopped it’
From the summer of 2021 onwards, several people expressed concern to Joshua about Michael’s welfare.
He added: “Several of them called the police, but when officers went round to the house, my dad would just say ‘I’m alright, nobody is harming me, it’s my own choice to be here’.
“But they were hitting him and he wanted to downplay it.”
Police said officers carried out appropriate engagement. Their full statement is at the end of this article.
Joshua added: “My dad was scared of what Joyce was capable of.”
With good reason.
Killer had history of crime
We can today reveal that, in 2015, Michael Joyce pled guilty to possessing an imitation firearm.
The previous year, Joyce turned up to a man’s house and told him his friend “was going to get it” before showing him an air pistol.
Joyce then went to the Islander Bar on Station Road looking for the man.
The court on that occasion was told Joyce was a Traveller who was “not well educated” as he had only been to school for two years.
He was said to have “settled down with a partner” – Gunn – but any good behaviour was short-lived.
In 2018, Joyce admitted threatening behaviour in an incident in which his brother swung a hammer at someone.
During the trial, Gunn revealed she met Joyce when she was 17 and he was 22.
She claimed he often physically attacked her and she was scared of reporting Joyce’s attacks on Michael in case he assaulted her too – and she was pregnant.
Joshua said: “Joyce has multiple, serious, previous convictions and the police didn’t think it strange that my dad was in his flat after getting concern-for-welfare calls.”
Michael was so thin, neighbours thought he had cancer
As time went on, neighbours noticed Michael appearing thin and wrongly put it down to the possibility of him having cancer.
Neighbour Ruchele Cullen, 52, said: “Michael was going to the shops for (Joyce and Gunn). He seemed he would do almost everything for them.”
Her husband Peter, 50, added: “He seemed to drive their cars. He was there if they needed to be driven anywhere.
“He would do their shopping for them.”
In late 2021, there was a significant development.
Joshua travelled north to visit his dad – who told him to stay away.
“It was very much out of character, I couldn’t work it out at the time,” said Joshua.
He added: “But he was trying to protect me.
“They were hitting him. My dad felt that, if I got too involved, they would hit me too, so he told me he didn’t want me to visit again.”
What motivated the killing?
So what was the driving force behind the actions of Joyce and Gunn?
The Crown originally argued the pair were persuading Michael to borrow money from others to spend on food and other things for them.
Prosecutors also claimed they tried to make Michael sell his beloved B&B – his one concrete reminder of his late wife Sally.
However, the Crown dropped those allegations during the trial.
But Joshua claims there were signs of Joyce and Gunn stealing his dad’s money.
Joshua said: “In court they kept referring to hundreds of pounds going missing, but I’ve seen all the bank records.
“There are signs of thousands of pounds from my dad’s bank account being converted into cryptocurrency and finding their way to Joyce’s account.”
Joshua believes the pair kept Michael alive until he was no longer useful to them.
And then things took an even more sinister turn in April 2021, when Michael was violently attacked.
Joshua said: “I remember the horrible day I found out.
Family denied funeral for four months
“I came straight up to the Highlands, arrived two days after my dad died and stayed up there for seven months.”
The Kyle community rallied around Joshua in his hour of needed and raised £1,870 to pay for Michael’s funeral, which took place in August 2023 – four months after he was killed.
During those months, detectives realised the claim that Michael took his own life just did not add up.
And when a pathologist carried out a second post-mortem test, she found multiple signs of violent injuries on Michael’s body, they suspected Joyce and Gunn of foul play.
Joshua said: “Nothing will ever bring my dad back and the court process has been extremely distressing, particularly with all the details of how he suffered.
“What I want to come out of this is a long sentence for this person.
“I also want the police to reconsider when it is best to intervene after concern-for-welfare calls, though I recognise they do a difficult job.”
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “We were contacted once in 2021 about Mr White’s living conditions and again in 2022 about his mental welfare.
“On each occasion, appropriate engagement was carried out and concerns were raised with the relevant partner agencies.
“He was also directed to other support services by attending officers.”