In 1965 James Lindsay, 22, was sentenced at Glasgow High Court to 12 years’ imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to manslaughter: he had killed a deaf-mute by hitting him on the head with an axe. He was released six years later, and within a year he was back in the same court, this time accused of murder.
The victim was Mary Ross, the 35-year-old manager of Glasgow’s Grove Bar. On MAY 27th, 1972, Lindsay, now 29, had. strangled her and robbed the pub of £400.
Admitting the slaying, Lindsay said he was drunk at the time and the defence pointed out that he had afterwards gone to the police.
Convicted of murder, he was jailed for life. The judge, unaware of Lindsay’s 1965 conviction, made no recommendation as to the minimum time the double-killer should serve.