A 70-year-old man murdered another pensioner because he wrongly believed he was a paedophile.

Richard Cassidy stabbed David Farish 14 times and slashed his throat at his home in Tweedbank in the Borders.

Cassidy said he had been told 75-year-old Mr Farish had abused a close friend of his when she was a child.

A jury heard how the ex-soldier lost control when Farish told him the police "could not prove anything" after he confronted him in February last year.

Cassidy went on to hand himself in but said he did not want to be known as a "cold-blooded killer".

On Thursday, he was given a life sentence after being found guilty of murder and was told he would serve at least 17 years in jail.

He had earlier offered a guilty plea to a reduced charge of culpable homicide.

The High Court in Glasgow heard Cassidy used techniques he was taught by special forces in the 1980s to infiltrate terrorist cells to befriend Mr Farish, who he had never met until the day he killed him.

Judge Lord Summers told Cassidy: "This murder was a particularly brutal one involving 14 knife wounds."

The court heard the fatal wound went through Mr Farish's heart and he died in minutes.

Defence QC Brian McConnachie said it was likely that Cassidy would die in prison.

He added: "Since being in custody he has suffered a heart attack and a stroke.

"He had never been in trouble in his life before this incident. He lived a fulfilling life until what he describes as a moment of madness."