Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
TWISTED KILLER ‘HAD EVERYONE FOOLED’
■ Murderer ‘manipulated system’ to secure home leave and strike again
■ Woman left for dead blasts authorities for “shambolic mistakes”
■ Killer’s mum tells Tele she has “a lot of feelings” about the case
■ Book detailing original murder found stashed in narcissist’s cell
■ Psychopath fantasized about killing women in woods
LINDA McDonald has demanded an apology from the authorities for the “shambolic mistakes” which led to her being left for dead by Robbie McIntosh.
A Significant Case Review (SCR) prepared by the Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements into the early release of McIntosh was published yesterday and put forward 10 recommendations for future cases.
The brute attacked Linda in Templeton Woods in August 2017 and the grandmother, from Clatto, says the publication of the SCR brings the curtain down on one aspect of justice.
But Linda has revealed she will now seek a full apology from the authorities.
In an exclusive interview with the Evening Telegraph, Linda said: “I don‘t want their sympathy and their empathy, I want a full apology.
“I want an acknowledgement that shambolic mistakes were made that allowed him to walk out of that prison and almost kill me.
“I’ve had empty apologies but I’ve not yet had an apology for the mistakes that were made that allowed the monster to walk free and almost kill me.
“I won’t rest until I get that apology.”
Linda has praised parts of the SCR but insists there has to be more transparency over how McIntosh managed to slip through the cracks.
She added: “While the report is damning and shows a good deal of transparency, it doesn’t explain properly how McIntosh was able to slip through the system and be released.
“The report speaks about flaws in the system, that is a massive insult to me. The word flaws doesn’t go nearly far enough.”
Linda will not describe herself as a victim – she says the fact she survives shows it’s not the case.
The assault, Linda believes, took place because she was in the “wrong place at the wrong time”.
She said: “They claim what he did couldn’t have been predicted, but I have a real problem with that. The clues were glaringly obvious in their 2016 risk assessment when they said he was still a risk to harm the public.
“It wasn’t a personal attack on me he was going to attack somebody that day and I happened to be the one there at that time.
“If it had to happen to someone I’m glad it was me and not my children or grandchildren. I dread to think what could have happened if my granddaughter had been with me that day. I have been empowered because I survived. He is 6ft 3in and I’m 5ft 1in and he battered me with an enormous dumbbell, leaving me for dead.
“But I am alive and I am strong – I won, he didn’t.
“I am relieved he will die in prison.”