A 31-year-old man, Robbie McIntosh appeared at Dundee Sheriff Court accused of attempting to murder a woman in a vicious woodland attack.
McIntosh appeared in private from custody before Sheriff Simon Collins QC on Wednesday afternoon, accused of the attempted murder of Dundee woman Linda McDonald.
Ms McDonald is currently in a serious condition in Ninewells hospital, where she is being treated for a head injury after apparently being struck repeatedly with a dumbbell.
McIntosh, of Rowan Place, Bridgefoot, made no plea and no declaration to two charges levelled against him.
He was remanded in custody and committed for further examination.
McIntosh was charged with attempted murder in Templeton woods on Monday August 7.
The attempted murder charge alleges McIntosh repeatedly struck Linda McDonald, 52, on the head and body with a dumbbell, rendering her unconscious before dragging her along a path – to her permanent impairment and disfigurement, to the danger of her life and did attempt to murder her.
The second charge alleges McIntosh attempted to defeat the ends of justice – having allegedly committed the crime in charge one – by washing his clothes to conceal and destroy any evidence.
McIntosh was remanded in custody and ordained to appear back before the court in Dundee within the next eight days.
A heavy police presence was witnessed in the immediate aftermath of the alleged crime, both in Templeton woods, Clatto park and Bridgefoot.
Officers continued to scour the area and maintained a cordon 24 hours after the incident is said to have occurred.
Locals in the area reported seeing scores of police vans and cars lining the road toward Clatto reservoir, with dog walkers continuing to use the remaining open paths.
Templeton woods has an infamous and uneasy history of murder, with the bodies of Carol Lannen and Elizabeth McCabe being discovered their in 1979 and 1980.
Nobody has ever been convicted of killing the young women, but a cold case investigator and former police intelligence officer Chris Clark believes they may have been killed by World’s End murderer Angus Sinclair.
