VIOLENT MAN WHO STRANGLED EX-PARTNERS INCLUDING MUM OF HIS CHILD FOUND GUILTY OF ATTEMPTED MURDER
A man known for his violent behaviour and history of domestic abuse has been convicted of three counts of attempted murder.Malcolm ‘Malky’ McDougal denied that he had intended to limit the airflow of his former partners, asserting that his actions caused injuries and posed a deadly threat over a nine-year period of ongoing abuse.
The High Court in Livingston’s jury of 14 jurors heard disturbing testimonies describing the defendant’s brutal, secretive assaults, which involved punching, kicking, and constricting his victims’ throats until they lost consciousness.
McDougal, aged 43 and a former lifeguard, claimed that the three women involved knew each other and had conspired to falsely accuse him via lies in the court proceedings.
Despite this, he admitted to having prior convictions, including prison sentences, for domestic violence, disorder, and bail offenses.
The jury, after five hours of deliberation, rejected his claims and delivered three unanimous and three majority verdicts of guilt.
In addition to the attempted murder charges, he was also found guilty of attacking two other former partners and a brother of one victim.
One of the victims, 37, described a tumultuous relationship, during which she stabbed him but emphasised she was also subjected to abuse.
She detailed repeated assaults in West Lothian between June 2011 and May 2013 punches, kicks, and choking.
A warrant was issued when she failed to appear in court, resulting in a two-week jail sentence for contempt.
Another woman, 33, testified that McDougal strangled her twice, with the second time involving both hands.
She described how he grabbed her by the throat in the living room and squeezed so tightly that she lost consciousness, with the ordeal lasting over a minute.
She added that he held her down to silence her, shouting “Just shut up!” and she described the disorienting feeling of losing consciousness and the physical marks left afterwards.
A third victim, aged 24, recalled that McDougal exhibited a “crazy” look in his eyes and appeared to be “possessed” as he attempted to kill her.
She recounted multiple instances of strangulation, including squeezing her neck during an affair that lasted nearly two years.
She recounted: “The first time that he attacked me it was just strangling involved and a little bit of slapping around the face.
He placed his two hands on my neck – he used to say it would only take five minutes to kill someone by strangling – and continued to squeeze.
“It felt like the longest couple of minutes of my life.
I struggled and said: ‘Get off me!
I can’t breathe!' I sort of just blacked out, almost as if I wasn’t there any more.
I recall the feeling afterwards and the pain, a reminder of the way he would squeeze.” Asked how she felt when she came back round, she said: “Sort of dizzy, dazed.
I just walked away from the situation." She also gave evidence that McDougal threw her into a shower tray and put his foot on her throat until she was struggling for breath.
She said he grabbed her by the hair and held her head under cold water for five minutes.
She said: “He was calling me a dirty sl*t because he’d accused me of cheating on him.
He was drunk.
He’d drunk two bottles of cider – six litres in total.” She also told how McDougal would also bite her and spit on her and often burned her leg with a cigarette lighter.
Following the guilty verdicts, prosecutor Jonathan Campbell pressed for sentence and presented victim impact statements from those involved in the attempted murders.
He also requested non-harassment orders to prevent McDougal from contacting his former partners.
Judge Alison Stirling indicated she would await a social work background report before sentencing at Edinburgh High Court scheduled for September 6 and deferred the applications for protective orders until then.
