Isle of Skye 'gun rampager' will plead not guilty at his murder trial

Isle of Skye ‘gun rampager’ will plead not guilty at his murder trial

By Grant Mccabe

Updated: 13:26 EDT, 28 July 2023

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A man accused of going on a rampage that left one person dead and three others seriously injured will stand trial for murder next year.

Finlay MacDonald is accused of shooting dead his brother-in-law, John MacKinnon (pictured), 47, at his home in Teangue, Skye, on August 10 last year.

Prosecutors claim MacDonald (pictured) killed the father-of-six by repeatedly discharging a shotgun, striking him on the body. MacDonald is said to have previously shown ‘malice and ill-will’ towards him.

The 40-year-old is separately charged with the attempted murder of his wife Rowena MacDonald (pictured) , 33, and two other people the same day. The indictment also states that he struggled with Mrs MacDonald and repeatedly stabbed her on the body with a knife at her home in Tarskavaig, Skye.

The attempted murder charge claims that this was to Mrs MacDonald’s severe injury, permanent disfigurement and impairment as well as to the danger of her life. Prosecutors allege the offence was aggravated ‘by involving abuse of your partner or ex-partner’.

After the killing of Mr MacKinnon, it is said MacDonald carried out murder attempts on chiropractor John Donald MacKenzie and his wife Fay (pictured). The alleged attacks on the couple, both 63 at the time, happened around 30 miles away at their home in Dornie, Ross-shire. MacDonald is said to have fired a shotgun at Mrs MacKenzie, hitting her on the head and body. He is then accused of discharging the weapon at her husband, striking the man on the body. Similar to the charge involving his brother-in-law, MacDonald is also said to have directed previous ill-will towards Mr MacKenzie.

MacDonald finally faces an accusation of possessing a shotgun with intent to ‘endanger life’. The indictment states that he did attend at and travel between the different properties while armed with the firearm and ammunition. The case called for a hearing at the High Court in Glasgow yesterday. MacDonald’s lawyer Shahid Latif told the court: ‘He pleads not guilty to the charges on the indictment.’Mr Latif said defence inquiries are ongoing, but he was content for a trial to be fixed.

Along with prosecutor Lisa Gillespie, KC, he also asked for a further hearing to take place before then, in December this year. Lord Fairley went on to state: ‘I will assign a trial of seven days’ duration for May 14 in Glasgow.’ Two crowdfunders at the time set up to help the affected families reportedly raised more than £70,000. Mr MacKinnon’s funeral took place in Sleat on Skye with up to 800 people at the service.