I forgive my attacker, but he shouldn’t have been let out of prison
A GRANDMOTHER battered with a dumbbell by a murderer out on home leave has said she forgives him.
Linda McDonald said she ‘does not even feel angry’ with Robbie McIntosh for savagely assaulting her as she walked her dog in Templeton Woods in Dundee.
McIntosh has a parole hearing on Monday – only five years after the assault on 57-year-old Mrs McDonald in August 2017. An Order for Lifelong Restriction (OLR) was imposed on McIntosh, 35, when he was sentenced for her attempted murder – meaning he will be monitored by the authorities for the rest of his life.
He attacked Mrs McDonald after being given a week of home leave from Castle Huntly prison, near Dundee, where he had been serving a life sentence for the murder of Anne Nicoll in August 2001.
Speaking ahead of the five-year anniversary of the assault, Mrs McDonald told BBC Scotland: ‘As I turned around he [McIntosh] was running right towards me; I never had the chance to do anything but put my hand up as I saw him come down on me with a big nickel-plated dumbbell.
‘I knew as soon as he hit me that it was serious. I was stunned.’
She added: ‘I forgive him, I don’t even feel angry with him. I know some of my family and friends feel different. I feel angry at the systems that failed to keep the public safe.’
Mrs McDonald is now campaigning for changes to the justice system, saying her ‘main focus’ is securing a meeting with MSPs at Holyrood.
She said: ‘I want a cross-party parliamentary meeting. I am a layperson and just speak from the heart and speak the truth.
‘If you really want Scotland safe and want policies and systems to work, listen to the people who have survived when they don’t work.’
A Justice for Linda campaign website has been set up, with the aim of working to ‘prevent the release of high-risk offenders without the full protection we need for our communities’.
McIntosh had been jailed for life in 2002 for the knife murder of 34-yearold civil servant Miss Nicoll as she walked her dog on the Law hill, Dundee, the year before. The killer was 15 at the time.
Described in court as having ‘psychopathic traits’, he was given a week’s home leave in 2017 to prepare him for release.
Mrs McDonald was headbutted, repeatedly stabbed and stamped on by McIntosh before being dragged into undergrowth. He admitted the attempted murder of Mrs McDonald in 2018, and was sentenced to an OLR – a form of life sentence – with a punishment part of five years.
The Mail revealed an official report on McIntosh would remain secret to protect his right to privacy.
Prison chiefs cited ‘data protection’ during a freedom of information dispute with the Scottish Daily Mail to keep a report under wraps.
Mrs McDonald said prison chiefs promised her a full report but then failed to provide it.
Last night, Scottish Tory justice spokesman Jamie Greene said: ‘It is astonishing to see such a dangerous criminal up for parole only a small number of years after the brutal attack on Linda McDonald.
‘Linda’s bravery has been inspirational but sadly the justice system under the SNP has let her, and many other women, down.’