Two men deny racially aggravated murder of William McKeeney

Two men have appeared in court accused of the racially aggravated murder of a 57-year-old man in Glasgow.

Asif Rehman, 20, and Adel Ishaq, 19, are alleged to have attacked William McKeaney near his home in Melville Street, Pollokshields, on 15 January.

Mr McKeaney, originally from Donegal in Ireland, later died in hospital.

At the High Court in Glasgow, both accused denied murdering Mr McKeaney and another charge of attempting to defeat the ends of justice.

It is alleged that Mr Rehman and Mr Ishaq caused Mr McKeaney to fall to the ground and repeatedly punched, kicked, stamped and jumped on his head and body.

The 57-year-old, of Melville Street, later died at the Victoria Infirmary.

In court, Mr Rehman admitted killing Mr McKeaney by causing him to fall to the ground and repeatedly kicking him on the head and body, under deletion of the racial aggravation element of the charge.

However, this plea to the reduced charge of culpable homicide was rejected by the Crown.

Mr Rehman denies attempting to defeat the ends of justice by changing his clothing before returning to Melville Street.

Mr Ishaq is also accused of attempting to defeat the ends of justice by giving clothing and footwear to Umar Nisar Bhatti, who destroyed them by setting them on fire and by attempting to induce Bashir Ahmed to give him £500 so that he could flee Glasgow.

He denies all the charges against him.

The court was told that the Crown is not ready for trial and a further preliminary hearing was set for next month.