TRIBUTES have been paid to the young Scottish piper murdered while visiting relatives in Marsden.

Craig Hepburn, 19, was the victim of a frenzied knife attack in the village – just an hour after playing his pipes to entertain locals.

In the early hours of Saturday morning, Craig – who was training to be a nurse – and his friend, Conor Paton, 18, were attacked.

Conor survived the attack, but his condition remains “serious” in Huddersfield Royal Infirmary.

Craig, however, died a short time later in hospital and police launched a murder hunt.

Craig, who had more than a thousand friends on Facebook, had entertained locals with his piping skills in a bar just an hour before his untimely death.

His parents Carol and Alex drove from their home in Linwood near Paisley to Marsden after being told the terrible news.

The pals had been visiting Craig’s uncle Scott Hepburn, who lives in the village, at the time of the attack.

Craig had been working as a barman at the local bowling club in Linwood while training to become a nurse at the Royal Alexandra Hospital, Paisley.

Members of Milngavie Pipe Band were shocked by the death of the popular young man who had been a piper with them for around a year.

Secretary Alastair Graham said: “This is a real tragedy and all our members can’t quite take it in.

“Craig was such a popular, respectful young man and he fitted right in at the band.

“He was a good piper and very conscientious. He rarely missed a band competition.

“We have cancelled our Monday night practice because no one could face it.”

Neighbour Cathy McDonald said: “Everyone is shocked by this.

“He was a friendly boy who was studying to be a nurse at the Royal Alexandra Hospital where he loved working.”

Close to tears, another neighbour who asked for her name to be withheld, said: “You used to see him in the back garden playing the bagpipes. He was such a lovely lad.

“He would play the pipes at people’s weddings and funerals. He had a lot of friends and he came from a very nice family.”

Gary Docherty, 47, couldn’t believe the news when his daughter told him of Craig’s death.

He said: “This is very sad. He was a really nice boy and my daughter knew him well.

“I know his mother and father and they are really good people. They will be devastated.”

THE MARSDEN community is in shock after the double stabbing which claimed the life of a Scottish teenager.

Residents awoke in the early hours of Saturday morning to find police swarming all over the tight-knit village investigating the early-hours attack.

Other villagers heard of the attack when they were confronted by police cordons on their walk to the village shops.

And many motorists were diverted when Manchester Road was shut at the junction with Folly Road until around 10.30am on Saturday.

Prayers were said for the victim’s family and friends at St Bartholomew’s Church, which was also cordoned off in the aftermath of the attack.

Churchwarden Cath Hanson said the prayers were led before the 9.30am service.

Katrina Murdoch, 28, lives in Clough Lea and was told by police she could not take her car out on Saturday morning.

She said: “I moved from Manchester to Marsden as this is a nice village.

“You more or less expect stabbings in the bigger towns but to think of this happening here is dreadful.

“It is a little village and it is devastating.

Another woman, who had come to stay in the village for a wedding, said she heard voices in the early hours but did not realise it was a police incident until the morning.

She said: “We nearly got flooded when we got here, now we have had police swarming all over the village this morning and all the roads closed.

“We didn’t expect it.”

A pensioner, who did not want to be named, added: “It’s just horrible to think something like this can happen in Marsden.

“I have lived here 43 years and never heard anything like it.”