Almost three years have passed since Mark Ward was pushed to his eventual death from a steep embankment in Lochee.
The consequences of that mindless attack in the middle of a routine day led to nearly 12 months of torture for Mr Ward and his family.
His loved ones could only watch in anguish as he endured the cruellest demise possible, left severely disabled and requiring 24-hour care for catastrophic brain injuries.
It was all because Steven Greig wanted a cigarette.
Greig is now facing a life sentence after being found guilty at the High Court in Dundee of murdering Mr Ward, a former taxi driver, as a result of that assault on April 6 2022.
The road to that conviction has been convoluted as Greig, 47, previously admitted assaulting Mr Ward to the danger of his life.
In January 2023, he was sentenced to five years and four months in prison at the High Court Edinburgh – three months before Mr Ward eventually died on April 5 2023.
Today, The Courier explores:
The key evidence that led to the jury’s verdict
The story behind the “unusual” second prosecution
How Greig’s original conviction may be quashed
The murder charge
Greig was initially charged with assaulting Mr Ward to his severe injury and to the danger of his life and tendered a guilty plea via Section 76 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act in December 2022 at the High Court in Edinburgh.
In simple terms, a plea of guilty at the earliest opportunity on indictment.
Following his sentence, Greig was hauled back into Dundee Sheriff Court in June 2023 and initially appeared on petition in connection with Mr Ward’s death.
The Crown Office eventually charged Greig with murdering Mr Ward by pushing him down the embankment, causing him to strike his head on Coupar Angus Road and kicking him on the head – the charge he previously admitted.
On the day of his trial, Greig offered to plead guilty to a lesser charge of culpable homicide.
This was rejected by advocate depute Mark Mohammed KC.
The consequence of this plea meant that jurors could not acquit Greig and were ordered to find him guilty of murder or culpable homicide.
The eyewitnesses
Jurors heard how two drivers and a doctor on holiday did their best to help Mr Ward.
Dr Jennifer Rollo performed a “jaw thrust” to stop the former City Cabs and NCR worker from “gurgling” blood.
Matthew Coughlin, who made the 999 call, and lorry driver Andrew Sutherland both saw two men “tumbling” down the slope, near Farmfoods.
They along with bus passenger Lewis Webster saw one man walking away “unbothered”.
Mr Coughlin bluntly said this was “casually as f***”.
Mr Webster went one step further to say he witnessed Mr Ward receive a “proper push” from the bus window.
Greig was again described as nonchalantly walking away from the scene in the direction of Adamson Court.
‘I’ve just battered a taxi driver’
Mr Mohammed opened his speech to the jury with Greig’s admission to his former partner that would eventually seal his fate.
“I’ve just battered a taxi driver.
“I asked him for a smoke and he came at me with an attitude so I went ‘ken what, f*** him’.”
Those remarks – minutes after the attack – were recorded on a Ring doorbell from South Road.
Following his arrest, Greig would later tell police: “I’m on five bails. That’s me f***** all because he wouldn’t give me a draw of a fag.”
Dr Rollo described facial injuries on the left side of Mr Ward’s face and stated to the court that she could not open his left eye because of how badly it was swollen.
Defence solicitor Marco Guarino argued this could have been due to hitting his head off rocks which formed part of the embankment surface.
While medical and pathological experts agreed with this possibility, the injuries were also consistent with Mr Ward being stamped on.
Blood-stained trainers
As part of the investigation, police seized Greig’s Nike trainers as well as the jumper seeped with blood that Mr Ward was wearing.
The victim’s blood was detected on both sets of shoes around the front toe area.
While not noticeably bloody, the shoes were shown to the jury by forensic biologist Christopher Hall.
The only witness who mentioned a stamp or kick was Tracy Mudie, Greig’s former partner, who claimed he told her he had “stamped” on Mr Ward after “slipping”.
Double jeopardy
Following Greig’s conviction, Mr Guarino made a motion under the Double Jeopardy (Scotland) Act.
Enshrined in Scots law, double jeopardy prevents someone being tried twice for the same crime.
The trial judge, Lady Drummond, acknowledged that this was a “rare situation”.
She said: “On the face of it, it doesn’t make a lot of sense for someone to have two convictions which arise out of the same circumstances.
“A more serious conviction, the murder, on a common-sense view would trump the assault.”
The Crown and defence will make submissions on this issue at the sentencing hearing in March prior to Lady Drummond revealing how long Greig will serve in prison.
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