The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Montrose killer sentenced to 26 years in prison
Mother of victim claims sentencing for two ‘psychos’ was not harsh enough
A depraved murderer who dismembered a mother-of-three and hid her body parts in bins has been jailed for life.
Steven Jackson was told he would serve a minimum of 26 years and his coaccused Michelle Higgins was jailed for eight years for helping dispose of Kimberley MacKenzie’s body.
Passing sentence at the High Court in Livingston, judge Lady Rae told the pair: “The behaviour of both of you was despicable and callous.
“The killing appears to have been a wholly motiveless and brutal murder of a defenceless woman.”
She added: “What you both did to the body of the deceased shows a level of depravity thankfully not often seen in these courts.
“You, Mr Jackson, boasted that you were sexually aroused when you were cutting up the body of the deceased.
“You told the social worker that when faced with a body in similar circumstances you would be constrained to act in similar fashion.”
She said Jackson, unlike his coaccused, had shown no remorse for his actions.
She told him: “You will not be eligible for parole and release until the whole of the punishment part has expired.
“Thereafter it will be for the parole board, and the parole board alone, to decide if you still present a risk to the public.”
Defence advocate Jonathan Crowe, for Jackson, said his client had never been convicted of any violent crime before and still maintained he was innocent of murder.
He said: “His position is that the only part he played in this horrendous incident was to assist in the dismembering and disposal of the deceased.
“Mr Jackson knows full well there can only be one disposal in this case standing verdict of the jury – a very lengthy sentence.”
Mark Stewart QC, defending Higgins, said she had been candid and open with social workers and had answered their questions with “what appears to be some degree of insight into the nature of the offence and the dreadful consequences it had and will continue to have in respect of the family and friends of the deceased”.
Outside court, Kimberley’s mum, Helen MacKenzie reacted with fury to the prison sentences imposed by Lady Rae, saying they were not harsh enough. She said: “They’re both psychos. “The sentences are ridiculous. She’s literally got away with murder.”
A jury earlier found Jackson, 40, guilty of battering former partner Kimberley MacKenzie with a hammer and stabbing her at a flat in Montrose on October 27 2015.