A LIFE WRECKED BY SOFT JUSTICE
Agony of grandmother savagely attacked by convicted killer on home leave after inquiry rules assault on her was ‘preventable’
A SAVAGE assault on a grandmother by a convicted murderer on home leave from prison was preventable, a damning official report has found.
Robbie McIntosh, 32, battered dog walker Linda McDonald, 53, with a dumbbell only five days after being released, ahead of a parole hearing.
Last night, Mrs McDonald’s husband Matthew said: ‘Soft-touch justice has ruined our lives – and we can only hope this report prevents future tragedies.’
McIntosh was given a life term for murder in 2002 after he killed Anne Nicoll, 34, in a cannabis-fuelled attack in Dundee when he was only 15.
He was granted home leave last summer but attacked Mrs McDonald, sparking a political row over why such a violent offender had been freed to strike again.
The Mail has learned that a report to be published by the end of the year has found the assault was ‘preventable’ – and that there was a failure to monitor McIntosh adequately in the community.
The disclosure comes after it emerged earlier this month that 16 innocent people had died in less than three years – all
murdered by criminals who had been spared jail.
Scottish Tory justice spokesman Liam Kerr said: ‘Clearly this individual was far from ready for release and should never have been allowed outside prison walls.
‘But even when he was free, it’s clear the monitoring was totally inadequate. It’s hard to see how a report into this could be anything other than absolutely damning.’
The forthcoming report is the result of a case review being compiled by Kathryn Lindsay, chief social work officer for Angus, who is chairman of the local MAPPA (Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements) group.
These groups comprise agencies involved in the management of violent and sexual offenders, and probe cases where there have been alleged failures on the part of the authorities tasked with monitoring them in the community.
It is understood a former police officer has been involved in investigating the McIntosh case. The MAPPA group met last week to discuss a draft of the review.
A source close to the probe said: ‘It will apportion blame and it will say that it was preventable. In particular, there will be criticism of the way McIntosh was monitored – basically he wasn’t. He was left to his own devices.’
Last night, Mr McDonald, 54, of Dundee, said: ‘The attack really had a horrific impact on our lives – my wife thought she was going to die. We are now looking at moving house because we’re too close to the area where the attack happened.
‘Until something like this does happen to you, you don’t think about the effect of “soft-touch” justice. Now we’re living through the consequences.
‘The failures of monitoring found by this report are appalling. McIntosh was a category three offender, the most dangerous, and he was free to do as he pleased. It was ridiculous.
‘We hope this report can bring about change – either don’t release people like this, with a history of violence, or if you do
‘She thought she was going to die’
then make sure they are adequately monitored.’
Justice system sources told the Mail that round-the-clock monitoring of serious offenders is highly unusual and extremely expensive.
Criminals let out of jail on home leave, as a test for their suitability for release, are meant to be kept under watch by police and social workers. But in reality these checks are usually intermittent.
Insiders also said life prisoners such as McIntosh are seen as the least likely to reoffend, suggesting that despite his violent record, priority was not given to checks of his movements and behaviour.
The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) was criticised this year for refusing to publish an internal report on the case. This is being fed into the separate case review now under way in Angus.
Prison chiefs cited ‘data protection’ to keep the report under wraps during a lengthy Freedom of Information dispute with the Scottish Daily Mail.
Prison managers are not in charge of monitoring offenders in the community, and it is understood the SPS insists its processes were followed in the McIntosh case.
A political row was triggered in February after Mrs McDonald’s family condemned the fact that a ‘sick individual’ such as McIntosh could be considered for release.
Speaking earlier this year about her ordeal, Mrs McDonald said she had been let down by Scotland’s justice system, and insisted that McIntosh should never have been let out of jail.
She believes he was ‘just waiting for an opportunity’ to strike again – and that home release gave him that chance. Mrs McDonald said: ‘How many home leaves has he had that he has been up there roaming about just waiting for an opportunity?
‘It was just a time-bomb, it was just waiting to happen.
‘He didn’t know me, I didn’t even speak, he didn’t speak. He’s not human, he’s pure evil. The part of his brain that would have to show empathy and all those emotions doesn’t work.’
Mrs McDonald was attacked by McIntosh in Dundee on an August afternoon last year. At the High Court in Edinburgh in October last year, he admitted attempted murder.
In February, at the High Court in Aberdeen, judge Lord Arthurson ordered him to be jailed for an ‘indeterminate’ period.
McIntosh must serve at least five years behind bars before applying for parole.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has rejected calls for a review of the policy of granting home leave to killers in Scotland.
An Angus Council spokesman, speaking for the MAPPA group, said: ‘There is a review under way and as no draft report is available yet, we don’t know what the findings may be.
‘We do not have an imminent date for finalisation of the report.’
A Police Scotland spokesman declined to comment last night, while the Scottish Prison Service said that it could not comment on the cases of individual prisoners.
A DREADFUL attack launched on a dog-walking grandmother by a thug on home leave from prison was ‘preventable’, says an official report.
Behind the measured words of this report lies the dreadful reality that another innocent person has fallen victim to crime under Scotland’s soft-touch justice regime.
A convicted killer, Robbie McIntosh, battered Linda McDonald with a dumbbell only five days after being released, ahead of a parole hearing. He should not have been out at all and the monitoring to protect the public was utterly inadequate.
No doubt we will hear the tired old clichés. Lessons have been learned; improvements made. It is simply not good enough.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has already ruled out a review of the policy of allowing home leave for killers, but shouldn’t she think again?
Rather than piecemeal reviews ensuring stable doors are bolted way too late, shouldn’t her ‘rising star’, Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf, be ordered to instigate root-and-branch reforms?
Shouldn’t he be straining every sinew to put the victims – not the criminals – first?