A teenage thug has admitted stabbing a man to death just months after being released on bail for another horrific knife attack. The killer lay in wait for John McNab, 22, before chasing and repeatedly stabbing him in Edinburgh on September 2 last year.
Mr McNab pleaded with his attacker in Leith’s Great Junction Street: ‘Please, please don’t. I haven’t done anything.’ But the youth, now 17 years old, who cannot be identified because of his age, ended his life by repeatedly stabbing him. The thug then boasted about the fatal attack to a friend, saying: ‘Ran after him on the middle of Junction Street wi’ a big Rambo, he fell to the groon and I started stabbing f*** oot o’ him.’
It has emerged that the teenager also carried out a knife attack on March 21, 2025, at the city’s Portobello beach. He pursued a 16-year-old boy on the promenade and seriously wounded him, but was bailed on April 25 last year. The youth, who is being held in a secure unit, has pleaded guilty to both attacks at the High Court in Edinburgh. He will be sentenced next month.
Mother’s Grief and Campaign
Lisa Petrie, Mr McNab’s grieving mother, said that while the plea brought ‘some sense of closure’ it could not ‘undo the devastation we feel as a family’. In a statement she said: ‘My son’s life was taken far too soon in a horrible way, and the pain of his absence will never be healed. No sentence, no ruling, will bring him back.’
Questions have been raised as to why the youth was allowed out on bail. Liam Kerr, Scottish Conservative justice spokesman, said: ‘The SNP’s soft-touch justice approach has allowed youth violence to spiral out of control. This is an absolutely appalling case, and hard evidence that too many dangerous offenders are let off the hook and free to attack again, on this occasion to the cost of someone’s life.’
Details of the Murder
Advocate depute Michelle Brannagan told the court that before the murder, Mr McNab was socialising with friends and during the evening a meeting was arranged for the youth to buy cannabis from a friend of Mr McNab. The teenager turned up at the meeting wearing a balaclava. He produced cash to buy the drugs, but there was a disagreement and one of Mr McNab’s friends ripped up the notes and slapped him. He was also punched in the face. The prosecutor said: ‘John McNab played no part in the exchange.’
Mr McNab and his three friends walked off, but were followed by the youth, who was 16 at the time, shouting at them. Feeling threatened, they ran to a flat and locked the door, but the youth remained outside and hid among some bushes. When the victim came out, the killer came towards him. Mr McNab tried to run off but was caught and attacked. The youth ran off and the victim was found by his friends.
Police later recovered an 18-inch hunting knife used in the killing. The court was told Mr McNab was bleeding from a wound to his stomach and was heard saying: ‘Help me, help me, I’m dying.’ The prosecutor said: ‘John McNab went into cardiac arrest. Advanced life support measures were carried out, with efforts continuing for some 40 minutes, unfortunately without success.’
The first offender was seen by a psychiatrist and was diagnosed as suffering from autism spectrum disorder and complex post-traumatic stress disorder. Judge Lord Harrower deferred sentence until next month at the High Court in Dundee.
Ms Petrie has vowed that her son’s death was not in vain and she is now campaigning to end the sale of knives in supermarkets. She said: ‘No one should be able to easily purchase the tools that can destroy lives. I will continue to fight for change, not just for my John, but for the safety of every family.’
