A violent brute who strangled former partners has been convicted of three counts of attempted murder. Malcolm ‘Malky’ McDougal had denied restricting the women’s breathing to their injury and to the danger of their lives in a campaign of domestic abuse spanning nine years.
A jury of 14 at the high Court in Livingston heard disturbing evidence of his brutal, behind-closed-doors assaults, which included punching and kicking his terrified victims before grabbing them by the throat and choking them by applying pressure until they passed out.
McDougal, 43, ironically a former lifeguard, claimed in his own defence that the three women he tried to kill all knew each other and had conspired to get him convicted by lying in court. However, he admitted that he had already served a number of prison sentences and had numerous previous convictions for domestic violence, public disorder and bail offences.
