Lewis Mullen was found guilty of stabbing 27-year-old Jack Trainner and leaving him bleeding to death following an eight-day trial at the High Court in Glasgow.

Mullen had initially faced a charge of murder, but jurors yesterday returned a guilty verdict on the lesser charge of culpable homicide on the basis of provocation.

The 25-year-old had accepted inflicting the fatal stab wound to Mr Trainner’s chest during the incident in Brookfield Road, but claimed he had been acting in self-defence.

The trial had earlier heard that Mullen turned up at the door of Mr Trainner’s second floor flat at around 9pm on April 27, 2024 in search of ‘street valium’.

Lewis Mullen (Image: Police Scotland)

He had been using the drug to self-medicate his anxiety for around four years prior to the incident.

Mullen told jurors he had expected to be welcomed into the flat, as he had been on previous occasions, but what followed was a violent altercation which resulted in the death of Mr Trainner.

He claimed Mr Trainner produced a crossbow and armed himself with a kitchen knife before pursuing him down the stairs in the common close and out of the building.

The argument between the two continued outside, before Mr Trainner re-entered the building.

In CCTV footage captured from a neighbouring property, the victim could be heard warning Mullen not to come to his door.

But Mullen did follow him back inside in the hopes of ‘talking to him’.

He told jurors he then acted in self-defence when Mr Trainner came at him with the kitchen knife.

Mullen inflicted a four-centimetre-deep stab wound to Mr Trainner’s chest which penetrated his sternum, aorta and trachea.

He then left the scene, making his way to a relative’s house before later taking a taxi to his home in Balfour Street.

When questioned by his mother over ‘rumours’ he had been involved in Mr Trainner’s death, Mullen – who has been remanded in custody since May 2024 – denied any involvement.

But he handed himself into police the following day after being told Mr Trainner had died.

Jurors heard evidence from more than a dozen witnesses, including neighbours of Mr Trainner, police officers and medical experts.

One man recalled following a trail of blood to find Mr Trainner lying injured in the stairwell between the first and second floors of the Brookfield Road flats.

Another neighbour described the scene in the common close as a ‘bloodbath’.

Emergency services were alerted and arrived at the scene soon after, with desperate efforts being made to resuscitate Mr Trainner.

He was pronounced dead at 9:55pm.

Jack Trainner (Image: Newsquest)

A crossbow and kitchen knife were recovered from the landing leading to the steps where Mr Trainner was found.

A purple blade, measuring around 12.8 centimetres, was discovered on the ground floor of the building. Mullen accepted that this was the knife he used to stab Mr Trainner.

He said the knife broke during the altercation, but that he did not know what he had done with the handle.

In his closing remarks, the advocate depute urged the jury to reject Mullen’s version of events and convict him of murder.

He argued that self-defence did not apply as Mullen was not in ‘imminent danger’ at the hands of Mr Trainner, who had walked back into the building and indicated he did not wish to be followed.

The prosecutor also argued that Mullen had a reasonable means of escape before he re-entered the building, and that he had time to think about his actions before following Mr Trainner inside while in possession of his own knife.

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Thomas Ross KC, defending Mullen, described the decision to follow Mr Trainner back inside as a ‘massive error of judgement’.

He asked jurors to consider the ‘fraction of a second’ Mullen had to decide how he would respond to Mr Trainner’s actions.

Mr Ross added: “If you can kill someone with that wee purple blade, you can kill someone with that kitchen knife.”

Jurors deliberated for around two-and-a-half hours before returning their verdict on Thursday afternoon.

Mullen was remanded in custody by judge Lord Renucci until his sentencing at the High Court in Dundee on February 12.

He had initially faced charges of being in possession of class C drug diazepam, behaving in a threatening or abusive manner towards Mr Trainner, and attempting to defeat the ends of justice by masking his face as he escaped the scene.

These charges were, however, later withdrawn by the Crown.