Tag: Dundee Evening Telegraph

Residents raised fears over killer McIntosh, months before attack on Dundee woman Linda

Dundee Evening Telegraph | 23rd August 2019 |

 “People were very worried – McIntosh was behaving in a very strange way that was drawing attention – including smoking cannabis in the garden at 4am.”

Residents in the tiny village where murderer Robbie McIntosh was released on home leave have revealed they warned authorities he would strike again – three months before his brutal attack on Linda McDonald.

Locals in Bridgefoot aired their fears at a meeting of Strathmartine Community Council in May 2017.

They also spoke to two local councillors, Craig Fotheringham and Beth Whiteside, asking the elected officials to intervene on their behalf and prevent the killer being released back into their community.

Some residents even admitted to being so worried at the time of McIntosh’s release that they stopped going for solitary walks and some women even began taking self-defence classes.

McIntosh was on day release from prison at the time of the violent attack on Ms McDonald, as he served a life sentence for stabbing dog walker Anne Nicoll to death on the Law in 2002 when he was just 15.

He was allowed out of prison on home leave and stayed with his mum in her flat in Bridgefoot in May 2017.

During that time his presence was closely monitored by concerned locals.

Now the community council has broken its silence on McIntosh’s presence in Bridgefoot at the time of his attack on Mrs McDonald, following news the victim’s wait for a significant case review has been extended even further.

Mrs McDonald has been told she could face another Christmas without answers over why McIntosh was released.

And a spokesman for the council revealed: “People were very worried – McIntosh was behaving in a very strange way that was drawing attention – including smoking cannabis in the garden at 4am.

“His presence was discussed at the meeting and we asked if anything could be done to monitor his activities and behaviour. The community police officer present advised us there was nothing the police could do as McIntosh ‘hadn’t done anything’.

“People were very worried and we were being told the police had no powers to do anything.”

The spokesman added: “Our fears were justified. When we heard about the attack on Mrs McDonald there was widespread horror.Locals were left horrified when McIntosh carried out his attack on Mrs McDonald.

“We had flagged up our concerns about him three months previously but no action was taken and he was able to strike again.”

Residents had also brought the issue up with Councillors Whiteside and Fotheringham before McIntosh’s second attack took place.

Ms Whiteside said: “I was approached by a few constituents over their concerns that McIntosh was being left free to roam locally.

“I raised the matter with Angus Council and received an assurance he would be closely monitored.

“I had to accept that. Unfortunately, as we now know, he was not being monitored and was able to carry out his horrendous attack.”

Police Scotland declined to comment until after the SRI is published.Mr Fotheringham, who was also at the community council meeting in May 2017, added: “I’m aware Councillor Whiteside raised the matter and received assurances.”

https://www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk/fp/residents-raised-fears-over-killer-mcintosh-months-before-attack-on-dundee-woman-linda/

Tragic Kane, 10, praised for bravery after saving life of girl from Coupar Angus killer

Dundee Evening Telegraph | 19 June 2019 |

He also admitted a charge of attempted murder against the girl and a third charge of possessing cannabis on November 11 last year.

A judge has praised the “bravery and self-sacrifice” of a 10-year-old boy who spent his dying moments trying to save another child after he was stabbed by his father.

Kane Morris, from Coupar Angus, died on November 11 last year after he was stabbed in his bed six times by his father Karl Morris, also known as Andrew.

An eight-year-old girl, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was stabbed in her lung and survived the attack.

Paramedics found that Kane, after being stabbed once in the chest and five times in the back, attempted to reach the room where the girl had been sleeping.

At the High Court in Glasgow, Morris, 38, admitted a charge of culpable homicide, reduced from murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility, accepting he fatally struck Kane several times with a knife.

He also admitted a charge of attempted murder against the girl and a third charge of possessing cannabis on November 11 last year.

Lord Mulholland said: “I will not make any remarks today – with one exception.

“It seems to me Kane showed incredible bravery and self-sacrifice, having sustained these life-ending injuries. Rather than himself being his primary concern, his concern was for the girl.”

The court heard on Wednesday how Morris had barricaded the door of his Union Street flat with a microwave before stabbing his son and the girl.

He then stabbed himself several times in the chest before jumping from a third-floor window on to a parked car.

He then crawled out to the main road in a perceived attempt to end his life.

Prosecutor Alan Prentice QC told the court Morris had seen friends earlier in the evening who described him as “his usual self”.

However, in the early hours of November 11 he received a phone call which unsettled him and appeared to convince him the two children were in danger.

CCTV from a Shell garage across from the flat appeared to show him emerging from the building carrying a mobile phone at 1.52am, before he returned.

The same camera captured Morris crawling from the driveway leading into the flat around 15 minutes later. Neighbours reported hearing a child screaming.

Mr Prentice said: “In the minutes that followed (the phone call) the accused killed his son and caused near fatal injuries by repeatedly striking the girl on the body before he stabbed himself and jumped out of the third-floor window.

“The accused appears to have no memory of killing his child – the accused reports sitting down watching television and possibly falling asleep.”

However, outside of official interviews Morris was recorded on several occasions as admitting to officers that he had attacked the children and thrown himself from the building – on one occasion telling police: “Why did I not die? I jumped off a roof and stabbed myself in the same way I stabbed them.”

Mr Prentice added Morris had been under stress working as a farmhand at his family business in Coupar Angus, exacerbated following the death of his stepfather in an industrial accident there in May last year.

Defence advocate Stephen Hughes said he would await reports before delivering a mitigating statement.

Morris was detained at The State Hospital, Carstairs.

Lord Mulholland deferred sentence until August 12, pending psychiatric and criminal justice reports.

https://www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk/fp/tragic-kane-10-praised-for-bravery-after-saving-life-of-girl-from-coupar-angus-killer/

Post script

As far as I’m aware, this is the only news report that mentions the third charge, of cannabis possession. I normally list only those stories in which the defendant’s smoking of cannabis has been stated as a fact, but such is the nature of this crime that I have assumed that the defendant smoked the cannabis he possessed. If anyone has evidence to the contrary I should be happy to read it.