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06/12/2012
Teen Jailed For 12 Years For Killing 'Sympathetic' Barman
A teenager has been jailed for 12 years for the murder of a barman.
Ryan Esquierdo, 19, choked 28-year-old Stuart Walker to death at an industrial estate in Cumnock on 22 October last year before setting his body alight.
He admitted he killed Mr Walker, who was gay, after he tried to comfort him over his own confused sexuality.
He pleaded guilty to culpable homicide, after prosecutors accepted his claim of diminished responsibility.
During a previous hearing, the High Court in Glasgow was told how Esquierdo and Mr Walker had been out separately in Cumnock on 21 October last year.
They later met each other "by chance" as they made their way home in the early hours of the following morning.
Esquierdo was lying on a wall apparently asleep when Mr Walker woke him and the pair then walked together towards the town's Caponacre Industrial Estate.
Prosecutor Andrew Brown QC said Mr Walker - who was openly gay - and Esquierdo then shared a conversation about the teenager's sexuality.
The court was told how Esquierdo previously had a number of girlfriends, but that his sexuality had been "the subject of discussion by his friends".
Mr Brown said: "Stuart Walker was only sympathetic with (Esquierdo's) conflicted position.
"The accused described feeling safe talking to Mr Walker."
The pair subsequently became intimate, which was consensual, but Esquierdo started to panic.
The court heard claims that Esquierdo had been sexually abused as a boy and that the situation he found himself in with Mr Walker induced "flashbacks".
Mr Brown said this triggered an "uncontrollable rage" within the teenager and that Mr Walker was on the receiving end of "extreme and explosive violence".
Esquierdo will be monitored for five years after his release from custody.
(H)
Ryan Esquierdo, 19, choked 28-year-old Stuart Walker to death at an industrial estate in Cumnock on 22 October last year before setting his body alight.
He admitted he killed Mr Walker, who was gay, after he tried to comfort him over his own confused sexuality.
He pleaded guilty to culpable homicide, after prosecutors accepted his claim of diminished responsibility.
During a previous hearing, the High Court in Glasgow was told how Esquierdo and Mr Walker had been out separately in Cumnock on 21 October last year.
They later met each other "by chance" as they made their way home in the early hours of the following morning.
Esquierdo was lying on a wall apparently asleep when Mr Walker woke him and the pair then walked together towards the town's Caponacre Industrial Estate.
Prosecutor Andrew Brown QC said Mr Walker - who was openly gay - and Esquierdo then shared a conversation about the teenager's sexuality.
The court was told how Esquierdo previously had a number of girlfriends, but that his sexuality had been "the subject of discussion by his friends".
Mr Brown said: "Stuart Walker was only sympathetic with (Esquierdo's) conflicted position.
"The accused described feeling safe talking to Mr Walker."
The pair subsequently became intimate, which was consensual, but Esquierdo started to panic.
The court heard claims that Esquierdo had been sexually abused as a boy and that the situation he found himself in with Mr Walker induced "flashbacks".
Mr Brown said this triggered an "uncontrollable rage" within the teenager and that Mr Walker was on the receiving end of "extreme and explosive violence".
Esquierdo will be monitored for five years after his release from custody.
(H)
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