Knife killer Paul Whitla ordered to spend extra four years in jail for murder of Nathan Gibson
A knife killer who stabbed his victim nearly 50 times is to have his prison sentence increased by at least four years, the Court of Appeal has ruled.
The minimum 15-year jail term imposed on John Paul Whitla, 46, for murdering Nathan Gibson at an arranged meeting in Craigavon, Co Armagh was found to be unduly lenient.
Senior judges established higher culpability based on premeditation and the ferocity of the attack carried out in January 2020.
Lady Chief Justice Dame Siobhan Keegan held: “The sentence was unduly lenient given the element of pre-planning and the fact that a brutal multiple stabbing such as this required an uplift to reflect the horrific nature of this crime.”
Whitla must now serve at least 19 years behind bars before he can apply to be released on licence.
The murder was carried out during a suspected drug-related encounter between the two men on a towpath near Lake Road.
Post-mortem examinations revealed 25-year-old Mr Gibson had been stabbed 18 times to the head and a further 31 times in the neck.
One of the knife wounds went through his eye socket into the brain, while another left the tip of the blade embedded in his skull.
Whitla left the scene covered in blood and went to Mr Gibson’s home where he managed to convince the victim’s partner to help clean him up.
He threatened and held the woman captive, at one point suggesting he had been told to carry out the murder by a local drugs gang known as ‘The Firm’.
Whitla, of no fixed abode and known by the nickname 'Eyeball Paul’, pleaded guilty to murdering Mr Gibson as well as common assault and false imprisonment of his girlfriend.
In December 2023, he was sentenced to life imprisonment, with a minimum tariff of 15 years before he can be considered for release.
The Public Prosecution Service (PPS) appealed the term imposed by arguing that the degree of premeditation in the killing justified a higher tariff.
Defence lawyers responded that Whitla was impaired by a low IQ and claimed the challenge was devoid of merit.
In her ruling, the Lady Chief Justice said the sentencing judge had been led into error because the prosecution underestimated the extent of pre-planning to the killing.
“In our view the respondent’s actions in arming himself with a knife and inflicting multiple stab wounds cannot simply be explained as a drug rendezvous gone wrong,” she said.
Citing the brutality involved in repeatedly stabbing a vulnerable victim in the face and neck, Dame Siobhan held: “These stark facts mean that the judge was entitled to increase the starting point by varying the sentence upwards from a minimum tariff when high culpability was established.”
She also identified no mitigation apart from a reduction for Whita’s guilty pleas.
Allowing the PPS appeal, the Lady Chief Justice quashed his original sentence and imposed a revised minimum tariff.
“The fair figure is 19 years, after which he becomes eligible for release on life licence if the Parole Commissioners determine that imprisonment is no longer necessary for the protection of the public from serious harm,” she confirmed.
“It is for the Parole Commissioners to decide whether he is released at that stage.”
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