ON THE night of his death, young Hungarian Istvan Sipos could have been forgiven for thinking his decision to bid farewell to his homeland for a new start in Glasgow was the right one.
He had, of course, made sacrifices; hundreds of miles away, back in Hungary, his long-term girlfriend was still studying for her degree, but planning eventually to join him.
It was a modest, admirable plan, but one wiped out in the flash of a drun
kard's blade.
Yesterday at Glasgow High Court, Andrew Spence, 19, admitted murdering Mr Sipos by knocking him to the ground and stabbing him repeatedly.
The attack took place on 10 June last year, yards from the young Hungarian's home, as he and his brother, Kristian, 23, were waiting for a bus to take them to a nightclub to celebrate the victim's 26th birthday.
There, the court heard, they encountered Spence, and his friend, Kevin Forsyth. The former asked for a cigarette, and the brothers obliged him. Spence then asked where the two men were from. Seconds later, Istvan, having been repeatedly punched, fell to the ground. Spence stabbed him a further six times in the back, one wound piecing his heart.
Spence then ran off. As Peter Ferguson, QC, prosecuting, told the court: "Witnesses heard him shout: "I've just stabbed a Polish c***. I've just murdered a daft Polish c***."
As Laszlo Takacs, the Hungarian consul general, told The Scotsman last night, Mr Sipos was "taken from a hard-working, responsible, decent family".
He added: "Now he is one of many young Hungarians who will not have the chance to educate themselves in Britain and make a better life."
Only a year before, the brothers, with their uncle, Joseph, had decided life in Heves, a rural area in the north of Hungary, was not suited to young, ambitious men.
Like many of the nation's outlying regions, it suffered from high unemployment, with only a modest textile industry to support the local economy. Taking stock, they followed in the footsteps of thousands of their compatriots, and made for British shores.
Not long after they arrived in their final destination of Glasgow, the Sipos men had found a base in the city's Hopeman Road. Soon, too, they secured employment.
Taken on as bus drivers, Istvan, Kristian and Joseph began work with Caledonian Buses, a Glasgow firm which already count several east Europeans among its workforce. With a steady wage flowing into the Sipos household, it seemed their great adventure was just beginning.
The court heard yesterday that Spence, from Glasgow's Priesthill area, and Forsyth, were both armed with knives and had been drinking since 10am on the day before the attack.
At the time of the murder, 12:45am, Spence should not even have been on the streets, as he was subject to a 7pm to 7am curfew and banned from entering the street next to where the attack occurred.
Yet at 5am, more than four hours after the stabbing, he returned, to find a police cordon around what had become a murder scene. He gave his name to police, and, found in breach of his curfew, was searched. A knife with Mr Sipos's blood was found on his person.
Ian Duguid, QC, defence counsel for Spence, said yesterday: "I am asked by Mr Spence to tender his profound apologies for his behaviour that day. That will be of little consolation to the relatives of the deceased.
"There is no explanation for why a chance meeting which started off in a friendly fashion should have deteriorated to the stage that someone lost his life.
"A chance encounter with a blameless individual has resulted in that individual losing his life."
As well as Spence admitting to the murder, Forsyth admitted in court yesterday to assaulting Kristian Sipos by striking him on the body with a knife to his severe injury and permanent disfigurement.
The judge, Lady Dorrian, will detain Spence for life and determine the punishment part of his sentence next month.
She called for background reports on Spence and Forsyth and a risk assessment to be carried out on Forsyth.
The full article contains 709 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
