Life term for abuser who killed his partner
BY DAVE FINLAY A KILLER was jailed for a minimum of 21 years yesterday for murdering his partner after a drink, heroin and methadone binge.
Roger Crossan, 53, stabbed Moira Gilbertson to death at his flat near the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh and kept her body there for days.
He then left a confession, claiming: “God will get me.”
The High Court in Edinburgh heard that Crossan, known as John, who admitted murder, had been in a relationship with his victim and there was a history of domestic abuse.
The sentence is the first in the High Court to take account of the Abusive Behaviour and Sexual Harm (Scotland) Act 2016, aimed at tackling domestic abuse, which accounted for three years of the term.
Shelagh McCall QC, defending, claimed Crossan “feels remorse” and said he had little recollection of events because he had been drinking heavily and taking heroin and prescribed methadone.
Sentencing him to life imprisonment, judge Lady Scott said: “The nature of the wound was such that her death was inevitable.”
In 2011, Crossan was convicted of assaulting Moira to her severe injury and danger of her life.
He was jailed for eight years in 1999 in England for the manslaughter of a former partner and had a further conviction for domestic violence.