Fife killer sent to jail for horrific assaults on ex

Friends said relationship was ‘more like a dictatorship’

A convicted killer who carried out a series of horrifying attacks on a former partner has been given a 21-month jail term.

David Kinloch was found guilty of repeatedly attacking his victim at addresses in Methil between 2003-05 following a trial at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court.

The 34-year-old previously admitted a second charge which saw him make death threats to his victim outside a children’s birthday party during the course of their violent relationship.

He admitted shouting and swearing before repeatedly banging on the property door which led to a window being smashed with a crowbar.

The jury took less than an hour to find Kinloch guilty by a majority verdict of multiple assaults on the woman, who was often seen with “black eyes and bruises”. The four-day trial heard from friends of the former couple who described the relationship as being “more like a dictatorship”.

The court was yesterday told how Kinloch was convicted of killing another former partner in 2008 and was handed a six-year prison sentence.

Sonya Todd died following a beating with a dog lead which is thought to have lasted up to five hours because Kinloch believed the 21-year-old was having an affair.

He was initially charged with murder but pled guilty to culpable homicide after evidence showed that the victim’s diabetes played a part in her death.

Sheriff James Williamson said: “Had these convictions followed upon the conviction of culpable homicide of Sonya Todd, then the sentence would have been in years. These are nasty, violent offences over a period of two years on a particularly vulnerable woman whereby he regularly assaulted her.

“I can’t say that he was the cause of course, but the woman did leave the area very quickly after these incidents.”

Sheriff Williamson said he accepted these offences dated back to 2003 when Kinloch would have been around 18 or 19 with a limited criminal record.

He imposed a 12-month sentence for repeatedly punching his victim on the head and body, kicking her, spitting on her, pushing her and pushing her against walls to her injury. Kinloch was handed a consecutive custodial period of nine months for disorderly conduct outside the children’s birthday party in Methil on January 26 2005. The sentence was backdated to May 8 when he was first remanded in custody.