Man jailed for brutal knife murder caught on CCTV in Hamilton

A man has been jailed for 18 years for a brutal knife murder that was caught on CCTV in South Lanarkshire.

William Lewis, 57, stabbed William Copeland, 36, multiple times – seconds after shaking his hand – at Hamilton’s Burnbank Centre shops on 21 October last year.

The High Court in Glasgow heard how he then stabbed Mr Copeland’s disabled father Thomas, 59, who fell out of his wheelchair.

Lewis admitted charges of murder and attempted murder. Judge Lord Colbeck said it remained “unclear as to why he behaved” the way he did.

He added: “There is, frankly, little, if anything, by way of mitigation present in this case.”

The court heard how Mr Copeland and his dad had been involved in a brief “verbal altercation” with Lewis earlier on the day of the killing.

When they crossed paths again later, Mr Copeland seemed in “good spirits” and was seen shaking hands and hugging Lewis.

But within seconds, Lewis became aggressive and pulled out a purple-handled blade.

Graphic CCTV footage of the attack was played during a hearing in July.

Prosecutor David Logan said: “Lewis, holding the knife in his left hand, stabbed William in the torso area while grabbing hold of him.”

He tumbled to the ground, but initially managed to get to his feet and stagger away a short distance.

But Lewis went after Mr Copeland who fell again.

The prosecutor added: “Lewis stood over him and stabbed him several times to the torso, head and neck area as he was on the ground.”

CCTV also captured Lewis pointing the weapon at Mr Copeland’s father and stabbing him in the chest.

The killer walked off and hid the knife in his pocket.

Mr Copeland did not survive his eight stab wounds. His father was rushed to hospital where he received emergency surgery.

Lord Colbeck jailed Lewis for life and cut his minimum term from 21 years to 18 years due to his guilty plea.

The hearing was told Lewis had previous convictions including a high court drugs offence from 2000.