Oban man jailed for knife attack in street

A MAN has been jailed for two years for a knife attack in the street, when the victim escaped by using a road sign as a shield and ‘ran for his life’.

Donald McGillivray, 45, of Flat 3-2, 19 High Street, Oban, pleaded guilty to assaulting a man by repeatedly striking him with a knife at Oban’s Station Square on May 24 2016 and a lesser charge of possessing an offensive weapon without a reasonable excuse or lawful authority.

Procurator fiscal Eoin McGinty told Oban Sheriff Court on Tuesday February 28 that the man had greeted McGillivray, who replied: ‘You f****** b******, I am going to get ya.’

Mr McGinty said: ‘The complainer realised [ McGillivray] had a knife in his right hand’, ran across the road and grabbed a road sign to use it as a shield as McGillivray began to stab. The complainer dropped the sign and ran for his life to the train station,’ the fiscal added, as McGillivray ‘chased him for a few steps’.

When police arrived, the fiscal said McGillivray told officers: ‘It was me who chased [him]. I went to the house and got a knife and dumped it in a bin.’

The knife, which had a five-inch blade, was later recovered from the bin, the court heard.

‘There was no explanation why this happened,’ Mr McGinty continued, adding that McGillivray ‘has a history of schizophrenia and that might be some form of explanation’.

Defence agent Tom Brown said: ‘There are certainly mental health issues, but not the kind that make him unfit for trial. There has been a full and frank admission.’

Sheriff Ruth Anderson QC sentenced McGillivray to two years imprisonment for the knife assault and six months for possessing the weapon, with both sentences to run concurrently.