Buckie man cleared of attempted murder but guilty of serious assault

High Court in Livingston

A Buckie man has been cleared of attempted murder but found guilty of assault to the danger of life.

The verdict was delivered at the High Court in Livingston on Friday against 44-year-old Stuart Murray following a four day trial.

Murray was found guilty of assaulting the alleged lover of his wife Donna, 49-year-old Kevin Docherty, in June this year outside his home on Alba Road in Buckie.

During the trial Murray had claimed that he was acting in self defence when the confrontation took place on the street after he went next door to Docherty’s home. Murray told police that he went there because Donna Murray, 44, had failed to answer his text messages.

The court heard evidence that Mr Doherty had attacked first, while Murray admitted he had armed himself with a filleting knife – but claimed that he only took it out of his pocket and waved it from side to side to stop Mr Doherty from attacking him.

Murray told the jury that his victim impaled himself on the blade when he lunged forward to continue his assault.

In evidence Mr Doherty told the court that he never saw the knife and only realised he had been stabbed when he felt a sharp pain. Doherty sustained multiple wounds to his stomach, chest, upper leg, arm and wrist, but managed to pin Murray down until police arrived.

During the trial Murray admitted that he was not happy with his wife regularly staying at his neighbours home until 5am.

Judge Lord Kinclaven called for criminal justice social work reports and has deferred sentence until January 9 at the High Court in Aberdeen.

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