Man, 50, guilty of murder bid in town
Alistair Munro
A 50-year-old who was once jailed for a school stabbing is back behind bars for trying to kill a man in Lerwick.
Stephen Savage, 50, carried out a brutal knife attack on Ross Sutherland on 17th September 2022 in the town’s Grostane area.
Jurors heard how Mr Sutherland was blamed for £20 going missing at the property.
One witness described a “loud frenzy” as the victim desperately tried to protect himself.
Savage had denied the attempted murder charge during a trial at the High Court in Glasgow.
But, he was found guilty and will learn his fate when he returns to the dock next month.
Savage, of Glasgow, had previously been locked up for four-and-a-half years in 2012 for an unprovoked attack on a dad outside a primary school in the city.
The Shetland murder bid occurred after Savage ended up at the house where the crime occurred. He was not known to most of those there.
Witnesses said an argument erupted about money being stolen and Mr Sutherland was blamed.
Savage was then seen clutching a blade.
Violet Robertson, 51, told the court: “I just saw him with it in his hand, waving it about and Ross was trying to protect himself.”
She told the court Mr Sutherland was “in a panic” trying to escape from Savage.
Mr Guarino asked the witness if Savage was the only person there that day armed with a knife.
She confirmed he was.
Miss Robertson said: “Ross said, ‘I have been stabbed’. He could hardly breathe. He was bleeding out and in that much pain.”
The court heard Mr Sutherland was left scarred for life as a result of the attack.
Lord Harrower remanded Savage in custody and deferred sentencing until next month in Dundee.
