An Alicante Court has imposed a sentence of more than fourteen years in prison on a Scottish man who, four years ago, stabbed his ex-partner in the town of Rojales.
The victim, 60 year old Mhairi Campbell from East Kilbride, a former finalist in the Miss Scotland Beauty Pageant, spent several days in hospital recovering from her injuries. She said that she had been left scarred for life and has since suffered post-traumatic stress as well as depression as a result of the attack.
William McDonald, aged 61, tried to stab Ms Campbell in a “surprise attack” when she had her back turned to him.
The victim split with McDonald, from Rutherglen near Glasgow, around two weeks before the stabbing, following a five-year relationship. The attack occurred at her holiday home in Rojales near Torrevieja in the early hours of 19 July 2017 after he showed up, despite a restraining order, and they began to row.
The court sentencing document said it had been proven Mhairi was attacked after asking him to leave the property when he started shouting at her and demanding money.
The victim told him to leave and was stabbed as she walked toward the front door, having turned her back on him. Already on the ground, she received a second stab wound to the arm, according to the prosecution.
While she was lying on the floor bleeding, she asked him for help, but he only cleaned up the blood with bleach and left the house with a suitcase. Her cries for help were heard by the neighbours, who alerted the Civil Guard.
“I kept begging him to get me help. I told him I’d tell the police it was an accident but he still said no. So I asked him to go, told him to run – anything to get him out of the apartment.
“Eventually, that’s what he did.
“As soon as he was gone, I started screaming for help.
“He said he’d call an ambulance from a pay phone but he never did.
“My neighbour saved my life. She heard me and called for help.”
Las month, state prosecutors asked trial judges to imprison McDonald for eight years found guilty, but on Friday it emerged he had been handed a 14 year, 11 month prison sentence after the three judges sided with a private lawyer acting for Mhairi, who said his crime warranted a stiffer punishment.
He said that McDonald took advantage of the fact that the victim had her back turned to pick up a knife and stab her unexpectedly.
The victim said that she felt a punch in her back and when she fell to the ground and turned around, she could see her attacker with a knife in his hand and realized that he was stabbing her. As she raised her arm, she received the second stab wound.
They said that even though the victim survived the stabbing, the defendant “used all appropriate means to cause her death, which did not occur, but due only to reasons beyond his control”.
The presiding judge said “The weapon used was capable of causing death and the area where the stabbings occurred put the victim’s life at risk. “There is no doubt about the defendant’s wish to kill his victim and not just injure her.”
The ruling also requires McDonald to compensate the victim with 5,600 euros for the injuries, 14,900 for the consequences and another 5,000 for non-pecuniary damage. The judges also impose a restraining order whereby the accused will not be able to approach or communicate with the victim for the next 24 years.
