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Police Scotland<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\nA man who stabbed a teenager to death in Edinburgh before hiding the knife in the grounds of Holyrood Palace has been jailed for life. <\/p>\n Bailey Dowling, 21, killed 18-year-old Lewis McCartney in the Dumbiedykes area in February 2023. <\/p>\n He was sentenced to at least 15 years in prison at the High Court in Edinburgh.<\/p>\n Dowling had denied murdering Mr McCartney and claimed he acted in self defence after he was struck with a bottle.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n He armed himself with a large kitchen knife before meeting the victim and his friends in Dumbiedykes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Violence then erupted, the court heard, during which Dowling was struck on the head before he stabbed Mr McCartney in the back. <\/p>\n He claimed he was “dazed and confused” during the incident and did not intend to harm the victim.<\/p>\n The court also heard Dowling hid the knife on the grounds of Holyrood Palace, the official residence of the King when he is in Scotland.<\/p>\n He then left Edinburgh for his home in London, where he later handed himself in to police.<\/p>\n Benjamin Wilson, 20, was given a two-year community payback order after being convicted of assaulting Dowling by hitting him on the head with a bottle in the same incident. <\/p>\n Judge Lord Matthews told Dowling that his victim had “everything to live for” and that his loss was devastating for family and friends.<\/p>\n He told the court: “It is clear you came to Edinburgh for what you hoped would be an enjoyable time and so it would have been but for the decisions you made.”<\/p>\n The judge added: “Taking a knife into the street is never acceptable.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n There has been a spate of knife violence among young people in Scotland in recent months – including the death of 16-year-old Kayden Moy on Irvine beach.<\/p>\n Kayden is the third teenager to be killed in 12 months – Amen Teklay in March and Kory McCrimmon in May last year, both in Glasgow.<\/p>\n Last week, First Minister John Swinney was accused of being “weak”<\/a> on knife crime during FMQs.<\/p>\n Opposition parties say the government has failed to take responsibility, though Swinney said the long-term trend was that knife crime had fallen.<\/p>\n He said the government was committed to a three-step approach to tackling the issue – early intervention, education and effective punishment.<\/p>\n BBC Scotland’s The Sunday Show also asked Justice Secretary Angela Constance on whether there was a direct link between cuts to youth services<\/a> and the rise in violence.<\/p>\n Constance said there were “many reasons” for the complex problem – with “more than one solution” for dealing with it.<\/p>\n “The contribution that youth work currently makes in this country and could make will be imperative going forward. It’s a key part of the solution,” she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n![](\"https:\/\/static.files.bbci.co.uk\/bbcdotcom\/web\/20250522-140200-09101d307-web-2.22.2-1\/grey-placeholder.png\")
![\"Alan](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/04f5\/live\/dbdfe650-1b9b-11f0-bade-39895cf97c9c.jpg.webp\")
Alan Simpson<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\nGovernment under pressure<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n