This week 30 years ago: Man on trial for stabbing Tony McGrane to death
Islington Gazette: May 22, 1987 - Credit: Archant
A distraught mum swore revenge on her son’s alleged killer in an Old Bailey courtroom, shouting: “I’m going to kill you for murdering my boy. You’re as good as dead.”
Kathleen McGrane made the threat after describing the moment she identified the slaughtered body of 13-year-old son Tony.
The court heard how Tony was stabbed 25 times in October 1986. It happened in a garage near his home in Cyrus House, Cyrus Street, Finsbury.
Gary Whelan, 19, of Woodbridge Street, Finsbury, pleaded not guilty to his murder.
Prosecutor Allan Green told the court how Tony and Whelan were friends. They and another pal had been “mucking about” on motorbikes. When the third boy went home, Tony and Whelan went back to Cyrus House.
You may also want to watch:
Two neighbours spotted Tony in a courtyard below at about 1am. They were the last people to see him alive. Later that morning, his body was found by labourer Stephen Harris.
Whelan was eventually convicted of manslaughter and jailed for six years.
Most Read
- 1 Man dies after collapsing in Islington
- 2 Police search for suspects after teen stabbed in the face in the Cally
- 3 Council tax set to rise amid 'hand-to-mouth' Covid-19 government funding
- 4 Student on 'emotional' first day giving Covid jab to NHS workers
- 5 Hospital staff describe 'distressing' battle against rising Covid cases
- 6 Arsenal Women trio issue apology to team mates following Dubai trip
- 7 Call for tech donations to tackle digital divide in students
- 8 E-fit appeal after teen partially blinded in Canonbury Road baton attack
- 9 Corporation Street fight: Boy, 15, stabbed in the face in the Cally
- 10 Two 17-year-olds charged after alleged knifepoint robbery in Highgate
