Murdered over £50k debt

Andrew Gibson • Published 18 Aug 2010 15:00

IT was a brutal murder that shocked Clydebank.

Paul Boland, 28, died outside the Doublet bar in Faifley after being repeatedly stabbed.

On Monday John Mullen, a 48-year-old dad, admitted carrying out the fatal attack on Mr Boland, using a sharpened steel spike.

The High Court in Glasgow heard that Mr Boland was stabbed six times and cause of death was a neck wound which damaged the jugular vein and the carotid artery.

The savage assault began just yards from Mullen’s home in Fullers Gate.

The court was told that Mullen snapped because he feared he would never see the £50,000 Mr Boland had borrowed from him, again.

The money was to finance a cocaine importing scheme, the court heard.

On Monday, the fifth day of the murder trial, Mullen sacked his defence counsel and pleaded guilty to murdering Mr Boland, of Miller Street, Clydebank.

Mullen’s son, also John Mullen, 28, stood accused of the same charge.

Both Mullens were also charged with - while acting with Mr Boland - being concerned in the supply of cocaine between November 1 and December 13, 2008, and to attempting to defeat the ends of justice.

All the secondary charges were dropped and Mullen jnr’s plea of not guilty to murder was accepted.

Mullen jnr’s girlfriend, Tracy Cunningham, 26, of Knightswood, had been charged with attempting to defeat the ends of justice by giving him a false alibi.

Her not guilty plea was also accepted and both walked free from court.

The trial jury earlier heard that Mullen snr gave Mr Boland, who had interests in a shop and a pub, £50,000 to finance a scheme to import cocaine from the Dominican Republic, and expected to get £100,000 back.

But, Mullen became concerned after learning that Boland still owed £135,000 to drug dealers for cocaine he had bought and then diluted so much no one would buy it.

When Mullen demanded to see his money to make sure it was safe, Mr Boland gave him the name of the man he claimed was holding the cash, the court heard.

After speaking to this man and discovering he knew nothing about the £50,000, Mullen ordered his 28-year-old son, and family friend Gary Edmonds to bring Mr Boland to him.

Mr Edmonds told the court how Mr Boland was taken in his BMW X5 with Mullen jnr driving and Mr Edmonds drove behind them in his Range Rover on a cold Winter’s night on December 13, 2008.

In evidence, Mr Edmonds said that as he parked behind Mr Boland’s car in Fullers Gate he saw him running from the X5 clutching his neck, with Mullen chasing him.

He told prosecutor Andrew Miller: “I think Paul was doing a runner and John Mullen senior was hot on his heels.”

The court heard that both men ran round the corner towards the Doublet and disappeared from view.

Mr Edmonds added: “It all happened in a split second.”

He told the court that his Range Rover was parked behind the X5 and claimed that Mullen snr returned and took his car and said something about taking it to knock Mr Boland down.

When asked by Mr Miller: “Did he have something with him?” Mr Edmonds replied: “It was some sort of spiky-looking thing made of steel protruding through his hand and was about four inches long. It looked like the handle of a woman’s steel comb, except bigger and broader.”

Mr Edmonds said that when Mullen snr drove off in his Range Rover he went over to speak to Mullen junior, who had been driving Mr Boland’s X5.

Mr Edmonds told the jury that he asked Mullen jnr what had happened and added: “He told me he didn’t know. He said his dad just went nuts and stabbed him.”

Mr Boland’s body was found outside the Doublet bar.

At the time of the incident we reported how shocked customers from the pub were kept inside until around 2.30am while police quizzed them trying to get an clue as to what had happened.

A massive manhunt got under way and a 48-hour forensic search ensued along with door-to-door enquiries in neighbouring streets.

Mr Boland’s Black BMW was later found burned out in the Queen’s view car park on the road to Drymen.

Trial judge John Morris QC deferred sentence on Mullen.

The court heard that that Mr Boland was stabbed six times.

The cause of death was a stab wound to his neck which damaged the jugular vein and the carotid artery.

A pathologist said that he would have bled to death, but wound have been capable of running from Fullers Gate to outside the Doublet Bar before losing consciousness.

ends

Wednesday, August 18 2010

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