20 August 2012 Last updated at 11:31 ET

Jenny Methven murder: William Kean jailed for life after guilty verdict

William Kean was found guilty of murdering Jenny Methven

A man has been jailed for life for the "brutal" murder of an 80-year-old Perthshire woman in her own home.

William Kean, 46, was found guilty of killing Jenny Methven at her Forteviot cottage on 20 February this year.

At the High Court in Glasgow, Kean had denied the charge and blamed the victim's son and his friend, David Methven, for her death.

Judge Lord Glennie said Kean would have to serve at least 22 years before he could apply for parole.

Kean showed no emotion as he was led away to begin his sentence.

The court had heard how Mrs Methven's son David found her in the cottage they shared after coming home from work.

Mrs Methven had suffered serious injuries to her head and body. She had been hit over the head at least 11 times with such ferocity that her skull was fractured from one side to the other and bone splinters were embedded in her brain.

Kean, from Blairgowrie in Perthshire, denied murdering the pensioner and lodged a special defence incriminating David Methven.

'Beneath contempt'

Mr Methven, who was in court to hear the conviction, said: "No verdict will bring my mother back or spare her the terrible ordeal that took her life.

"I will never be able to imagine her suffering in those moments or comprehend the cruelty of a man who would do that to an elderly woman who regarded them a friend to the family."

He said he and Kean had been friends for more than 20 years.

Jenny Methven was found at her home in Forteviot with numerous injuries to her head and body

"We were almost like brothers. I cannot begin to understand or forgive what he did to my mum," he said.

"It was an act of betrayal and his denials in the time since, and particularly during this trial, leave him beneath contempt."

The investigation leading to Kean's conviction was one of the biggest ever carried out by Tayside Police.

About 80 officers were dedicated to the inquiry and forensic experts spent over a week combing Kildinny Cottage for evidence.

The court was told David Methven, 58, had returned from work expecting to find his mother getting ready to go out with him for a curry.

'Savage and brutal'

Instead, he found his mother covered in blood.

He dialled 999 and tried frantically to give CPR to his mother, although she was already dead.

Prosecutor Alex Prentice QC described the murder as "savage and brutal" and said that Mr Methven had lost his only living relative.

Passing sentence, Lord Glennie told Kean: "You have been convicted of the murder of Jenny Methven."

"The brutality of the murder of which you have been convicted, of a kindly, active older lady who was a relative of one of your friends, means a lengthy sentence must be imposed."