The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Law killer victim says a weight has been lifted
APOLOGY: Scottish justice secretary says sorry to grandmother left for dead
A Tayside grandmother who almost died at the hands of Law killer Robbie McIntosh has said a weight has been lifted from her shoulders after she received a direct apology from the justice secretary.
Linda McDonald met Humza Yousaf at Holyrood yesterday and sought assurances that no one else would have to suffer the ordeal she went through.
The 55-year-old said she laid the blame for the vicious assault at the feet of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) and not those of the “psychopath” McIntosh.
The convicted murderer left Linda for dead in 2017 after attacking her with a dumbbell while he was on day release from prison.
He was jailed in 2002 for the murder of civil servant Anne Nicoll at Dundee Law while aged 15.
McIntosh is now back behind bars for an “indeterminate” length of time after he admitted attempting to murder Linda at Templeton Woods, on the outskirts of the city.
Speaking outside Holyrood after the meeting, Linda said it was “overwhelming” to have finally received an apology.
She said: “I’ve been waiting on an apology, for somebody to take responsibility for the failings of letting Robbie McIntosh out.
“It was a mistake to let him out. He was a dangerous psychopath and I always knew in my heart there were failings there but no one was ever willing to say that to me – no one was ever willing to admit mistakes.
“Within the first two or three minutes of the meeting, the justice secretary apologised wholeheartedly to me and my family.
“He has no idea the impact that’s made on me. That’s all I ever wanted, for them to acknowledge that mistakes were made so that no one else could be hurt.”
A review into McIntosh’s release found a litany of failings by authorities.
He was allowed to go on leave, despite having been identified as a “high risk” re-offender and suspected of “playing the system”.
Linda said: “I don’t blame the psychopath that attacked me that day.
“I blame the SPS for giving him the opportunity to attack me by giving him his home leave when all the signs were there that he should never have progressed through the prison service to be granted home leave.”
Mr Yousaf said the Scottish Government and SPS had accepted the recommendations of a significant case review published in November and a range of action was under way to address the issues it highlighted.