NO JUSTICE FOR KEVIN

Eitan Grant - Eitan Grant • Published 13 Aug 2008 15:15

A grieving dad has slammed the justice system after his son"s killer got just six years in prison.

Father-to-be Kevin Duffy was battered to death in Johnstone last June by golf club-wielding nut Liam Peters.

Just one month later his baby daughter Teighan was born.

Yesterday John Duffy hit out at the verdict claiming it showed his son"s life was "worth nothing".

He said: 'There was no justice for my Kevin.

'It should have been a murder conviction in my view.

'I couldn"t believe that the man who killed my son will be eligible for parole in three years.

'Everybody knows prison is cushy.

'He should have been put away for life for what he did.

'One blow of the golf club might be self defence but what about the second and third ones?'

'Nothing was mentioned in court about the two blows to the side of Kevin"s head and one on the top of his head.

'I was in court to hear the verdict and it was a farce.

'All we heard about was Liam Peters" background.

'Kevin had a girlfriend who he loved very much and now a wee lassie called Teighan who he will never get to see.

'He had a steady job and was never in trouble with the law.

'I can"t understand why none of this was taken into consideration in court.

'This verdict shows that Kevin"s life is worth nothing.

'The legal system needs a wake-up call.'

Twenty-year-old Kevin died after a brutal early morning attack on Beith Road at the hands of former bank worker Peters.

His childhood sweetheart Nicola Robertson was eight months pregnant at the time with Teighan. She celebrated her first birthday two weeks ago.

Heartbroken John, 46 from Johnstone Castle added: 'I was driving home on Sunday evening about 6pm when I saw Kevin walking up Elm Drive.

'I wound down the widow and shouted, "you better get down the road your tea"s almost ready".

'He said "Aye no bother".

'That was the last time I spoke to him.

'He didn"t come home that night and in the morning when I was driving to work I saw the Beith Road was cordoned off.

'I turned round and drove back into the estate and went to his friend"s house but they didn"t know where he was.

'I then called the hospital and gave them a description of Kevin.

The person on the other end of the line suggested I contact the police.

'It was then I knew it was Kevin.

'The police called back a little later and said they had a body in the morgue and asked me to go down and identify it.

'You bring up a child for 20 years and then end up having to identify him in the morgue and now there"s a kid that"s being brought up without a daddy.

'It"s too late for me but the justice system has to be changed for the sake of other families going through similar experiences.'

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This article appeared in The Gazette 13 Aug 08

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