Jane Kelly death: Mark Jarvie cleared on grounds of insanity

A man has been acquitted of murdering his art student girlfriend on the grounds of insanity.

Mark Jarvie went on trial accused of strangling and stabbing Jane Kelly, 22, in the bedroom of his family home in Powmill, Kinross, in October last year.

A joint minute read to the jury at the High Court in Aberdeen agreed he had killed her.

But psychiatrists had concluded that he had suffered a "total alienation of reason" at the time of the offence.

Judge Lord Tyre instructed the jury to find Jarvie, who has been detained at Carstairs, not guilty of the charge of murder on account of his insanity.

The court heard his parents, Gordon and Linda, walked into his room on 28 October 2011 to find Miss Kelly had been strangled and stabbed in the head with a knife.

The art student was lying face down on the bed fully clothed. Jarvie was sitting on the floor with his hands round her neck.

We cannot come to terms with why Mark Jarvie perpetuated such a wicked, pointless and senseless act”

He muttered something about Alan Sugar and shouted: "Get out of my house".

His mother called paramedics but nothing could be done to save Miss Kelly.

The court also heard Jarvie's friends and family had become concerned about his aggressive, and out of character, behaviour in the weeks leading up to his girlfriend's death.

After the hearing, Miss Kelly's parents, from St Andrews, said they were struggling to understand why their daughter was not informed of his condition.

Her father, Graeme Kelly, said: "Jane was the greatest and most generous of girls and her loss causes us overwhelming pain.

"We, as a family, continue to grieve. We cannot come to terms with why Mark Jarvie perpetuated such a wicked, pointless and senseless act."

He added: "We have listened to all the psychiatrists evidence and we are being asked to accept that Jarvie was, and remains, very ill.

"Nevertheless, we will never understand why he did what he did, nor can we forgive."

Miss Kelly was thought to have been dating Jarvie for about eight months before she was attacked.

She had been studying fine art at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design and was living in Dundee.

Defence lawyer Ian Duguid QC said his client felt "extreme sorrow, regrets and remorse" for what happened.

He added: "He has to live with this tragedy every day of his life."

When he gave his instructions to the jury, Lord Tyre described the case as "most distressing".