A man who tried to murder another passenger by stabbing him with a broken Buckfast bottle on a busy train has been jailed for 12 years.
Thomas Craig, 48, attacked a stranger with a bottle on a Glasgow to Dundee service on February 16 last year, chasing him down the carriage and hitting him on the head with the bottle until it broke.
As the man’s friend tried to help, he stabbed him in the head and chest, causing the second man to lose more than two litres of blood.
Craig was found guilty of assaulting the first man and attempting to murder the second after a trial at the High Court in Glasgow in November.
Now, Lord Arthurson has handed him an extended sentence of 12 years behind bars and three years of supervision upon release.
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Chilling CCTV footage showed Craig running down the carriage and raising his arm to attack one victim before changing from his blood-stained hoodie into a clean one.
Lord Arthurson said: ‘You ran towards your first victim, striking him on the neck with the bottle. The second man courageously came to the assistance of his friend.’
The attack on the man’s friend was described as a ‘wholly murderous’ attack in court.
Lord Arthurson also praised other passengers who came to the aid of Craig’s victims, including a nurse who helped on board.
The court heard that the two victims were in their early twenties at the time of the incident.
Craig had been drinking alcohol for several hours and had also taken cocaine before the attack, the court was told.
Tony Graham KC, representing Craig, said there was nothing he could say in mitigation, but said he is a man who has struggled with drug and alcohol addiction and feels remorse over the incident.
He added: ‘This is a man who recognises he has done wrong. This is a man who recognises the potentially devastating consequences, averted in this case.’
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