THE son of tragic Malcky Ballantyne has thanked the local community for their ‘phenomenal’ support since his dad’s murder but insists that his killer should never be freed.

Malcky Jr spoke to the Herald this week after last Tuesday’s sentencing of James Nolan to life imprisonment, with a minimum term of 20 years for the brutal murder of the 72-year-old at his home in Saltcoats last August.

Malcky spoke candidly about his dad who he described as a ‘loyal man’ and his anger expressed following the conviction.

He said: “My dad was a great wee man. He was loyal to the family, made sure we didn’t go without anything and he done his best for us all. Sadly he is not here anymore and a lot of folk miss him. The community miss him for his wittiness and his banter. He was a regular at the Cross Keys or the Glenny and before that he sat on his bench outside Sawney Beans. I’m hoping to get a wee plaque or something there in his memory.”

He believes that the punishment should be more serious revealing that his dad always said it should be ‘life for life’.

Malcky added: “James Lee Nolan has devastated my family. He took away a wee, elderly man for no reason, because he’s had drugs in his body and seen the ‘red mist’ which I think is rubbish, personally. You don’t stab somebody 64 times with ‘red mist’ over your eyes, no chance.

“What he has done is horrendous and I wouldn’t wish it on anybody. One stab wound to my dad would have killed him. He’s depriving my daughter of a papa and the rest of the grandkids too. It’s had a big knock-on effect. He’s took an elderly man away. 20 years is nothing compared to what he has done to the Ballantyne family and the rest of the community.

“He’s getting fed and watered, I’m paying for it, taxpayers are paying for it, to keep him alive and the way I look at it, 20 years is not enough. Life for life is what my dad always said, eye for eye, tooth for tooth.

“I think the Scottish Justice system is absolutely terrible. He shouldn’t have been walking the streets with 51 convictions. We were up at court and the police told us not to start anything. We were sitting there not doing anything and he said to us you better not start anything. It was shocking. We’re the victims not the criminal.”

Malcky added: “The community have been unbelievable. Everyone knew him, never in bother. The hard thing for me was I didn’t get to say cheerio properly. I go to his grave more or less every day and I just sit there but the hardest thing is that my dad would have still been here today if it wasn’t for that junkie rat.

“I’ve come to terms that my dad isn’t here anymore but I cannot come to terms with what he has done to my dad. You stab someone 64 times, they are not surviving. There are no words. James Lee Nolan is scum, in fact scum is too nice for him, he’s a piece of s**t. It breaks my heart.

“The family want to thank the whole of the community for the support that they have given us, Police Scotland for doing what they’ve done, the Ardrossan Herald and the rest of the media and to Lady Rae.”

A frank and honest Malcky spoke openly and emotionally about what happened and how he is struggling to deal with it all.

He told the Herald: “I’ve not had the chance to grieve. All right, he got sentenced to 20 years but 20 years is nothing. What got to me was when we were in the court and the Crown were reading out what happened and I was expecting about 10 stab wounds or something like that but when he said 64 I felt my eyes filling up. I’m thinking 64 stab wounds to my dad? He was a wee, frail, old man. And then 40 fractures to his ribs. My dad was sober, the report showed there was not one bit of drink in his system. He must have been terrified in his house. I said to my dad umpteen times that I wanted to put a wee camera in his house but he wouldn’t have it. I would have been able to check who was in and out his house. He was too proud.

“His anniversary is on August 21 and we’re going to go to his house and put some flowers out on the fence and remember him.

“At the end of the day, I want to thank the Herald and the local community because it’s been absolutely phenomenal.

“It has taken my dad’s death to think that could have been one of their family and a lot of people say to me that they’ll get their mum or their papa to lock their door.”