Woman jailed for stabbing friend to death

A WOMAN who stabbed her drinking pal to death has been jailed for six years.

Anne Russell, 55, had been accused of murdering David Greenhill and attempting to cover up the crime by planting a knife on him.

It was alleged she had tried to make police believe Mr Greenhill, 64, had stabbed himself - although she admitted to emergency services that she had used the knife.

A charge of attempting to defeat the ends of justice was dropped and Russell admitted a reduced charge of culpable homicide.

Jailing her at the High Court in Edinburgh yesterday, judge Lord Kinclaven said it was accepted that she had been acting under provocation - a doctor found wounds to her fingers and arm which might have been "defensive injuries."

The judge noted: "You do have a long history of problematic alcohol use."

The court heard that Russell brought emergency services to Mr Greenhill's home in Niddrie Marischal Drive on May 11. He was found slumped in a chair with a kitchen knife in his hand.