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Daily Record
Daily Record
National
Sarah Vesty

Wife of OAP left in pool of blood after being attacked by neighbour over parking space row slams 'disgusting' fine

The wife of a Scots OAP who was left lying in a pool of blood after being attacked by his neighbour in a row over a parking space has hit out after the thug who assaulted him escaped jail.

Christina McKibbin, 79, thought her husband Frederick was dead when she saw him unconscious on the ground outside their Glasgow home on June 22, 2019.

The grandad, 82, suffered a head injury after being assaulted by upstairs neighbour Daniel O’Donnell who he had gone to confront over the parking space fallout.

Frederick was rushed to Glasgow Royal Infirmary, where he received treatment for a bad gash on his head before discharging himself the next day.

Frederick was rushed to the Glasgow Royal Infirmary by ambulance (Handout)

O’Donnell, 66, appeared at Glasgow Sheriff Court on Thursday where he admitted pushing the pensioner and causing him to hit his head off the ground.

He was handed a £520 fine which the victim’s family have branded “disgusting” and say they do not feel justice has been served.

Wife Christina, 79, told how the couple had been experiencing parking issues outside their Townhead home due to broken bollards so had blocked their space off with a rope, but neighbour O'Donnell had seized the rope before cutting it up and posting it through Frederick's letterbox.

Christina explained: “I was lying in bed when I heard the letter box going so I got up and found the rope lying all cut up into small pieces and it had been posted through the door.

“I opened the door and O'Donnell was standing halfway up the second flight of stairs laughing. I told him he was off his head and went and closed the door.

“My husband was getting ready to go out with the dog before bedtime and he asked me what had happened, so I told him.

Christina thought her husband was dead after seeing him lying in a pool of blood (Handout)

“He said he was going to speak to O'Donnell, but I told him just to leave it.

“But my husband then started walking up the stairs to go speak to him but then he pushed my husband who fell down and banged his head.

“He was unconscious. When I saw him lying there I actually thought he was dead because he wasn’t coming round. O'Donnell then ran up the stairs and called the police himself.

“The police later said they had a recording of the call where he said he thought he’d killed my husband, so they said he couldn’t get away with it.

“The landing was covered in blood. The forensics came out and were taking photographs of it all.

“He pleaded guilty to pushing him down the stairs and knocking him unconscious, but he’s walked away with a fine and that’s it. I’m disgusted."

The happy couple on their wedding day (Handout)

Frederick's wife and family believe that he has never fully recovered from the traumatic incident and say he changed forever after his head injury.

Christina added: “His whole personality changed after all that. He started to get quieter and quieter.

“He used to crack silly jokes all the time but he stopped all that, and he began staying in and stopped going out with the dog.

The McKibbin's were dealt a further blow in January this year when Frederick was diagnosed with cancer.

Christina said: “The cancer is in his prostate and he also has two tumours in his lung. The judge said that he couldn’t relate the attack to being the cause of the that, but the whole family feels that justice hasn’t been done.

"That man should’ve been sent away for what he did."

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