Killer slipped through net ... because he was 200 yards outside city
Killer Robbie McIntosh may have ‘slipped through the net’ when he bludgeoned a woman with a dumbbell while on day release from prison.
It was claimed yesterday that officials in Dundee may not have known about his home leave because he was 200 yards beyond the boundary, in Angus.
Linda McDonald, 53, who was attacked by McIntosh as she walked her dog in Templeton Woods, on the outskirts of Dundee, believes police and social workers had no idea he was in the city.
Last night, she accused local authorities of ‘gambling with her life’.
Mrs McDonald said: ‘I don’t believe the authorities in Dundee were told and I also believe there was never any full or appropriate monitoring or supervision of McIntosh.
‘Basically, I believe he was allowed the freedom to plan his attack.’
At a Dundee City Council meeting on Monday, Labour group leader Kevin Keenan said: ‘It seems to me that McIntosh’s release was dealt with by another local authority which he was released to, but he was only 200 yards from the city boundary. Potentially something has been missed where someone is being monitored in one local authority bordering another.’
Mrs McDonald said: ‘The authorities gambled with my life and I’m still waiting for an apology. I’ve been privy to some meetings during the preparation of the Significant Case Review (SCR), which have led me to believe the Dundee authorities had no idea McIntosh was being released.’
She added: ‘I accept no one could have predicted what he did to me that day but they should have had a pretty good idea something was going to happen.’
McIntosh 32, was jailed for life in 2002 for the murder of dog walker Anne Nicoll. In 2017 he was allowed out on home leave – and attempted to murder Mrs McDonald.
He then fled to his mother’s house in Bridgefoot on the outskirts of Dundee – but in the Angus Council area.
McIntosh was jailed in February last year for an ‘indeterminate’ period.
Tory justice spokesman Liam Kerr said he ‘should never have been released to be monitored in the first place’.
Police Scotland referred inquiries to Angus Council.
An Angus Council spokesman said: ‘An SCR is being carried out which will consider the circumstances of McIntosh’s offence with a view to identifying... any necessary improvements to public protection arrangements.’