PORT GLASGOW MAN JAILED FOR DAYLIGHT KNIFE ATTACK ON DISABLED NEIGHBOUR
This shocking picture shows a man wielding a knife after stabbing his disabled neighbour in the back during a daylight attack.James McMaster McLaughlin was captured on mobile phone footage after attacking his victim.
McLaughlin, 62, was seen on video scuffling with the man and standing over him with a knife in his hand.
The brutal attack took place directly across from youngsters in a playpark in Port Glasgow, Scotland.
A jury at Greenock Sheriff Court found the attacker guilty of repeatedly stabbing a man on the body with a knife to his severe injury and permanent disfigurement, and being in possession of a knife without reasonable excuse or lawful authority.
A claim of self defence was rejected by the jury and the verdict was reached by majority for both charges.
The brutal attack left the 46-year-old victim with a would on his abdomen and another on his back.
After the jury delivered their verdict, Sheriff Anthony McGeehan told McLaughlin that he would be punished to 'protect the public'.
He added: "You have been convicted of serious offences.
It is only through good luck that [the victim] was not seriously injured and you have not ended up at the High Court." During the trial, the jury viewed graphic mobile phone footage of McLaughlin attacking the victim while a woman exclaims 'he's been stabbed', and a child can be heard in the background.
The video shows the complainer on the ground, and McLaughlin standing above him with a knife in his hand.
Procurator fiscal Maria Murdoch asked the complainer about his recollection of the incident.
He said he had been out with his dog and had arrived back at his home address.
When he got out of his car and moved around the vehicle to get his dog out of the back of the car, then he said he felt a sharp pain in his back.
He added: "I was not aware of what it was.
I turned around and then saw a guy with a knife.
I knew him, it was James McLaughlin."I wasn't aware that he was there until I felt a sharp pain in my back." The complainer said he managed to push his dog back into the car and shut the door and said he can't remember if he said anything to the accused.
When asked to describe what he saw in the footage, the complainer said: "It's me being stabbed and me on the ground.
I tried to get the knife off him and ended up falling." The court learned that the complainer sustained lacerations to his back and his abdomen, and was taken to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.
The stomach injury was sealed with one staple and the back laceration required two staples.
The incident took place on July 13, 2024, in Stanton Square in Port Glasgow.
McLaughlin's defence solicitor Aidan Gallagher asked why the complainer opened the boot of his car [again] after he had been on the ground.
He said: "[I wanted] to get something so if he came at me again, I could stop him.
I didn't want to be stabbed again." The court then viewed dashcam footage captured by the complainer's car.
The audio includes a car door closing before what sounds like a scuffle, people shouting, and a dog barking.
A detective constable called as a witness in the trial said he listened to the dashcam footage and transcribed as much as he could hear.
He said he could hear McLaughlin saying something to the victim about his daughter and the victim responding with 'I've not got Facebook'.
