{"id":161654,"date":"2022-08-05T21:18:46","date_gmt":"2022-08-05T21:18:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/?p=161654"},"modified":"2022-08-05T21:18:46","modified_gmt":"2022-08-05T21:18:46","slug":"woman-battered-with-dumbbell-by-killer-forgives-him-ahead-of-parole-hearing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/world-news\/woman-battered-with-dumbbell-by-killer-forgives-him-ahead-of-parole-hearing\/","title":{"rendered":"Woman battered with dumbbell by killer ‘forgives him’ ahead of parole hearing"},"content":{"rendered":"
A woman who was battered and left bloody by a convicted killer with a dumbbell says she forgives him for it.<\/p>\n
Linda McDonald was savagely assaulted by Robbie McIntosh when she was walking her dog in woods near Dundee in August 2017.<\/p>\n
McIntosh was out on early release from a life sentence for stabbing a woman to death when he was 15.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: 'Cowering' Mexican drug lord 'caught by dog' claims 'prison torture' after recent arrest<\/b><\/p>\n
He\u2019s now 36 and is due for a parole hearing which, if successful, could see him get out having served just five years for his attack on Ms McDonald.<\/p>\n
Despite being given an Order for Lifelong Restriction (OLR), he will have a hearing next week.<\/p>\n
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But as the day approaches, Linda says that it is not McIntosh she blames, but rather a lack of police checks.<\/p>\n
She believes that before people convicted of violent crimes are let out of prison, more stringent checks are needed, theDaily Record<\/u>reports. <\/p>\n
The 57-year-old grandmother has been campaigning for change since the incident, which took place in Templeton Woods.<\/p>\n
"As I turned around, he was running right towards me, but I never had a chance to do anything but to put my hand up,\u201d she told the BBC. <\/p>\n
"As I turned around, he was running right towards me, but I never had a chance to do anything but to put my hand up.<\/p>\n
"I knew as soon as he hit me it was serious because the smell of the blood, it's like pennies and warm. I was just stunned."<\/p>\n
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McIntosh had been serving life for the killing of Anne Nicoll 16 years beforehand but was allowed to leave in preparation for his parole.<\/p>\n
Linda said: "I just started screaming 'help' as loud as I could. When he hit me the second time, I just knew I blacked out."<\/p>\n
It was only when two passers-by came to help that McIntosh stopped hitting her. "I forgive him, I don't even feel angry at him. I know some of my family and friends feel different. I feel angry at the systems that fail to keep the public safe," she said.<\/p>\n
She wants stricter checks to be put on outgoing inmates and needs 10,000 signatures to get her petition to Scottish Parliament.<\/p>\n
"If you're really wanting Scotland safe and you're wanting your policies and your systems to work, listen to the people who've survived when they don't work," Linda added.<\/p>\n
A Scottish Prison Service spokesman told the Daily Record: "As we have previously made clear, we are profoundly sorry for what happened to Mrs McDonald. We are fully aware of the life-changing consequences, for her and her family, as a result of this dreadful act. We have engaged with Mrs McDonald and will continue to do so."<\/p>\n
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