Scots killer who stabbed man in heart in love row to go before parole board
A Scots killer who fatally stabbed a young man in the heart believing he slept with his girlfriend is set to go before the parole board again today.
On June 4 2019, Robbie Smullen, then aged 23, was convicted of a reduced charge of culpable homicide at Edinburgh High Court after he plunged a knife into Barry Dixon, 22, killing him at a flat in Wallace Court, Perth. He was sentenced to nine years and three months imprisonment.
Just six years on, today's appearance before the parole board will be Smullen's second after being denied release in October last year, the Courier reports.
He was granted temporary release by the Scottish Prison Service the following month - which means he was allowed unescorted day outings from jail.
The family of Barry Dixon have been broken since his death with his aunt Jade Taylor, who helped raise Barry after his parents died, spoking to the Record in the days following the sentence.
She said: 'Days on, we are still in utter disbelief and we are hoping for news that the Crown Office will appeal this unduly lenient sentence."
"It's never going to be okay that Barry isn't here with us. The pain of missing him and way his life was taken is intolerable.
"We are alive but we are no longer living. It's never going to be okay that he isn't here and we will never get over it.
"I just hope Barry always knew how loved he was and that he will never be forgotten."
Barry was knifed in the chest after going back to the flat with Smullen's 'on/off' partner Shannon Beattie. Smullen was on three different bail orders at the time.
During the trial, Smullen claimed the fatal injury was inflicted when Barry pulled a knife on him and they both 'tripped and fell' during a struggle over the weapon. However, the jury rejected his defence of self-defence and returned a majority verdict of culpable homicide.
Judge Lady Carmichael said the killer had been 'disinhibited by alcohol and the effects of sexual jealously' and no sentence imposed could 'repair or lessen the harm done to the family of Barry Dixon'.
Smullen's mother Mary Smullen had been on trial alongside him and pleaded guilty to attempting to pervert the course of justice by pretending to police that Barry was stabbed by Ms Beattie. She was ordered to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work
During the trial, Shannon Beattie told the court she witnessed Smullen stab Barry.
She described meeting Barry in another woman's home on the evening of June 3 2019, and they ended up together in her flat where they kissed. Shannon said Smullen arrived home and branded her a 'f*****g s**g' with a fight breaking out between him and Barry before 'Robbie stabbed him in the chest'.
Witness Brian Henderson said he'd been at his partner's home near Mary's Smullen's address when Robbie Smullen came to their door, saying: 'I think I've killed someone, I think I've killed someone.'
Brian added: '(Robbie) was going on about the boy he killed saying, 'I'm glad I killed him, he's a d**k' or something to that effect.'
Barry was taken to Ninewells Hospital, Dundee, but suffered a cardiac arrest and was pronounced dead at 5.53am.
The Parole Board for Scotland has been contacted for comment.
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