THE family of a man murdered by his former drinking pal cheered in court yesterday as his killer was sentenced to life in prison.
Gerald Stokes (44), formerly of 277 Carron Road in Bainsford, murdered James Robert Forsyth (49) in his flat in River Street, Bainsford, in September last year by stabbing him to death.
It took a jury in the High Court in Dunfermline just one hour on Wednesday to find Stokes guilty after an eight-day trial.
Sentencing Stokes, the judge Lord Clarke said: "In light of the guilty verdict, there is only one sentence and that is life in prison.
"This was a vicious attack you imposed on what appears to be a harmless person."
The court had heard that on September 8, a drinking session ended in tragedy when Mr Forsyth, known as Tiny, was found lying dead on his couch.
Stokes, who had been drinking with Mr Forsyth that night, was arrested on September 9 and was remanded in custody on September 11.
At the start of the trial, Stokes had said that another man, John Miller, formerly of Carron Road and who appeared in court as a crown witness, committed the murder.
But some of the jury of 11 women and four men clearly had doubts about Stokes' evidence.
After the majority verdict was read out, Advocate Depute Simon Collins told the court that Stokes had a "lengthy record" and had committed a number of "crimes of violence". He said the most serious of these had been for actual bodily harm in 1988, for which Stokes was sen-tenced to 12 years in jail.
Stokes, who is from Northern Ireland, had also been convicted at Belfast Crown Court between 1979 and 1985 for robbery, assault, possession of firearms, and for numerous crimes of dishonesty.
Stokes' lawyer, Murray McCara, said that although his client's crimes in Northern Ireland had happened during the time of 'The Troubles', Stokes had assured him that they did not have a "sectarian dimension".
He also said that the murder of Mr Forsyth had not been premeditated.
"Mr Forsyth was a well-liked character in Falkirk," said Mr McCara, "and Mr Stokes got on well with him.
"He didn't have a quarrel with him, and there was no significant argument between them to explain why this event look place."
Lord Clark told Stokes he must serve at least 14 years behind bars before being considered for release.