Inverness woman jailed for stabbing soldier to death

AN INVERNESS mother who killed the father of her three children by stabbing him through the heart was today jailed for six years.

Yvonne Lambert (34) attacked former Royal Scots soldier David McLaughlan (44) at his home in Maxwell Drive in the Dalneigh area of the city after a row about him leaving their kids home alone while out drinking in July last year.

Lambert had denied murdering Mr McLaughlan but a jury found her guilty unanimously of the reduced charge of culpable homicide.

Passing sentence at the High Court in Edinburgh, Judge Lady Stacey said: "You have been convicted of taking another person’s life by stabbing. No sentence I can pass nor any remorse you express can go any way towards assuaging the grief felt by Mr McLaughlan’s family. That includes not only his brothers, but your mother and of course your own children, because by your action you took the life of the father of your three children.

"In all of the circumstances I have to mark the severity of the situation by imposing a custodial sentence."

She added: "It may be that excessive consumption of alcohol had some part to play in this incident, and I know that you know that is not an excuse. I accept that remorse is genuine; and you do not need me to tell you that you will have to live for the rest of your life with the knowledge that your reckless and wicked action has taken a life and caused grief and disruption in other people’s lives, most especially in the lives of your children."

During the trial the court heard the pair had a drunken row about the care of their children when they had both been drinking separately the previous day.

The argument led to police being called to Mr McLaughlan’s house, where Lambert was detained. But the mother of three was later released on July 14 and returned to his home in Maxwell Drive in the city where they had a struggle with a knife resulting in her stabbing him.

When police arrived she shouted "I’m a murderer, I’m a murderer", although she claimed the death had not been intentional.

During the six-day trial the jury was told by a pathologist that the stab wound was unlikely to have been an accident. However, another said that possibility of an accident could not be ruled out.

A toxicology report showed Mr McLaughlan had 237micrograms of alcohol per 100mililitres of blood at the time of his death which is over three times the legal limit for driving.

Defence advocate Jock Thomson QC appealed to Lady Stacey to restrict Lambert’s sentence as she was not a threat to the public.

He said: "It was a domestic matter, it was between a couple who knew each other and had been in a relationship for many years and had three children. No members of the public were involved here."

Mr Thomson added that the incident had been fuelled by Lambert and her former partner’s difficulties with alcohol. He also said Lambert showed "genuine remorse" for her behaviour.

In a statement previously released by the McLaughlan family they said: "There are no winners in this case - only losers. We have lost a brother and three children have lost a father.

"We do not hold malice against Yvonne Lambert’s family. This has been a difficult time for them too."