Man stabbed friend on loch fishing holiday
A DRINK-fuelled fishing trip to Loch Awe ended when a man stabbed his friend in the chest.
Robert Edwards, 52, pleaded not guilty at Oban Sheriff court, when he appeared for trial on September 1 and 2, to assaulting William McNally, 26, by stabbing him on his body, to his injury and permanent disfigurement.
He lodged a special defence last week claiming he had acted in self- defence when William McNally and his father, Samuel McNally, 45, tried to attack him.
The jury heard Edwards had been invited on a fishing trip with the father and son on April 17.
After two days of drinking, the men went to a van they had hired to shelter when their fire wouldn’t light, in the early hours of Sunday, April 19.
They had been drinking beer and vodka over the two days, and in the van they continued drinking and were smoking cannabis.
Samuel and William McNally gave similar accounts of how Edwards, of Heriot Avenue, Paisley, began acting strangely, claiming he was related to the royal family. A row between the three broke out when the McNallys, also from Paisley, remonstrated with Edwards about his treatment of William McNally’s dog, saying he was poking and antagonising it. After being told that it would be his own fault if the dog snapped at him, Samuel McNally told the court Edwards replied that he would stab the dog.
As William McNally went to the back of the van to let the dog out, Edwards threw a camping chair at him then stabbed him in the chest with a knife he had been using to peel vegetables the day before, leaving a wound 2cm deep and 2cm long.
William McNally said: ‘I tried to get the dog by the collar, and I just remember being stabbed. When I bent down to get the dog, he stabbed me.’
The knife had pierced a fleece, t-shirt and foam life jacket William McNally had been wearing. Edwards claimed he had acted in selfdefence after the McNallys tried to attack him.
He said during the trial: ‘I thought I was going to die. I was terrified the dogs might be used to attack me. I got out and William and Samuel were both coming towards me. They came towards me and my arm went up to William’s chest. I never intentionally went to stab anybody. Whatever happened, if it was my knife that did it, it was a complete accident.’
Despite complaining of a ‘ vicious, aggressive attack’, it was noted that Edwards had not a single, visible mark on him, and none were recorded by ambulance staff or police. The only mention of any injuries was a pain to his side that he complained of, for which he was given paracetamol.
Fiscal Eoin McGinty said: ‘Despite this alleged vicious attack by two dogs and two people, the only person who was left with a visible mark was William McNally.’
The jury deliberated for around an hour and a half, before returning the guilty verdict.
Sheriff Ruth Anderson agreed to continue Edwards’ bail until September 28, deferring sentence for background reports.
‘Custody must be in the uppermost of my mind, given that there was use of a weapon,’ she added.