The husband of a Dundee woman almost killed by murderer Robbie McIntosh has broken his seven-year silence in a bid to end the “charade” he called the Scottish parole system.
In an exclusive interview with The Courier, Matt McDonald – whose wife Linda survived a brutal attack in Clatto Woods in 2017 – said he feels the time is right for him to speak out.
With McIntosh’s second parole hearing on Friday, Matt has hit out at the system that he says will continue to haunt the couple and their family for the rest of their lives.
Linda has been vocal in the past and has discussed her fear of McIntosh being released, but is subject to a confidentiality agreement in relation to his parole hearings.
Matt has always chosen to stay out of the public eye, but has chosen to speak out as the confidentiality agreement does not apply to him and he wants to shine a light on failures with the parole system.
‘I was very naive about the future’
In a searingly honest interview, Matt says he fears that only Linda’s or McIntosh’s death will bring an end to the traumatic cycle.
“I realise now that initially I was very naive about what the future would hold,” he said.
“I know now I didn’t really understand fully what McIntosh’s sentence meant, particularly the part about the lifelong restriction order and him being eligible to apply for parole after five years and [possibly] being released on licence.
“I thought it seemed ages away but the time passed so quickly.
“For me the most important thing always was that Linda was alive, that she survived the attack by McIntosh.
“But our lives have changed forever.
“What happened to Linda is the first thing I think about every morning and the last thing I think about every night.
“I don’t think about McIntosh. He’s not important, I don’t care at all about what he is doing or thinking.
“But as time goes on, in many ways instead of things getting better they are getting worse and that is definitely exacerbated by the current parole system.”
At the time of McIntosh’s attack on Linda, the convicted murderer was on home leave from Castle Huntly prison while serving a life sentence for the 2001 murder of Anne Nicoll.
‘The anxiety and fear starts to build’
In October 2017, McIntosh pled guilty to attempted murder and was given a lifelong restriction order with a minimum of five years before he could be considered for release on licence.
He first became eligible for parole in 2022.
On that occasion, McIntosh’s legal representative did not make an application for release at the hearing meaning he remained in prison for at least another two years.
Matt said: “The Scottish Parole Board must know that McIntosh can never be released into society, so why do we have to go through the tick-box charade of allowing him a parole hearing every two years.
“The anxiety and fear starts to build 18 months after the last hearing as the paperwork starts to come through our door informing us he will be eligible yet again.
“We have to write a formal statement saying why we think he shouldn’t be granted parole, then we have to wait for the parole hearing with the all the anxiety and fear that causes – then it begins all over again.
“How long will this go on for?
“There is only one obvious way for it to end and that is if either Linda or McIntosh were to die.”
Linda lives in constant fear of McIntosh release
Linda could come off the Victim Notification Scheme – which would put an end to the parole letters and statements – but Matt says this would be harder.
He said: “That would be even worse for Linda because then she would be completely in the dark.
“She would feel out of control, living with the constant fear that she might hear or read one day that McIntosh was out of prison.
“Her fear would be him coming back to finish her off.”
Matt believes the system has to be completely overhauled so victims like Linda and their families do not have to constantly live in fear of what happens next.
The Courier’s A Voice for Victims campaign is demanding parole reform that would put victim trauma at the heart of proceedings.
A review of the process is now under way with the parole board themselves appearing to ask Scottish Ministers to conduct an audit.
Extend time between parole hearings
Linda’s husband believes one change should be increasing the time between parole hearings for violent offenders like McIntosh.
Matt said: “Even if they could categorise prisoners with the most violent and dangerous offenders like McIntosh the parole hearings don’t come round so often – maybe every five years or 10 years would make more sense – allowing victims time without having to face the constant anxiety and fear of release.
“To my mind McIntosh is a complete psychopath who will never be allowed out of prison but that is very much harder for Linda to truly believe.
“I too have a fear that if he ever is released much further down the line, when he is an old man, that could be even more dangerous – people will have forgotten about him by then but he would still be capable of carrying out another brutal attack.
“We are the ones who have the real life sentence here, not McIntosh.”
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