Estranged husband stabbed man who returned home with his wife

High Court: William Stupart was jailed for knife attack.Katielee Arrowsmith/Deadline News

An estranged husband has been jailed for four years after stabbing a man who had returned home with his wife.

William Stupart lunged at Roy Clark and stabbed him in the chest at the house in Dundee.

Mr Clark was taken by ambulance to Dundee's Ninewells Hospital where he was found to have suffered a collapsed lung following the attack and a chest drain was inserted.

A judge told Stupart at the High Court in Edinburgh on Tuesday that he would have faced a six-year jail sentence for the assault, but for his early guilty plea.

Lady Stacey also ordered that he should be kept under supervision for a further year. She said the fact that Stupart was very drunk at the time of the attack was no excuse.

She said: "You used a knife on a man and stabbed him in the chest. Happily he was released from hospital after four days but it was a very dangerous thing to do."

Stupart, 31, a council refuse collector, earlier admitted assaulting Mr Clark to his severe injury and to the danger of his life on March 4 this year by striking him with a knife at Wolseley Street, in Dundee.

Advocate depute John Scullion said at the time of the offence Stupart was married to Fiona Souttar but the couple were living apart.

He said: "The marital relationship had broken down irretrievably according to Ms Souttar due to a number of domestic incidents which resulted in the accused being prosecuted."

Stupart had been freed on bail about a month earlier at Dundee Sheriff Court following an assault and special conditions were imposed on him designed to prevent him having contact with his wife.

But in the early hours of March 4 Ms Souttar returned home with two friends, Mr Clark and Hazel Wilson, and noticed the rear door of the close was open.

As she went into her flat she saw Stupart at the living room door and realised that he was holding a knife.

Mr Scullion said: "Fearing for her safety she ran past her friends out into the street."

The prosecutor said Stupart walked towards the friends and was heard to say to Mr Clark: "Who the hell are you?".

"At this point the accused seemed to focus his attention on Roy Clark and he made a lunging motion towards him," said Mr Scullion.

The attack victim tried to move out of the way but ended up in a struggle with Stupart.

"Both ended up on the ground, Roy Clark on his back and the accused astride him at which juncture the accused stabbed the victim in the chest with the knife he was holding," said Mr Scullion.

Defence counsel Susan Duff said Stupart put forward no excuse for his behaviour and added: "He is quite horrified that he behaved in the way he did. The offence came on the back of an unhappy and volatile marriage," she said.

Mrs Duff said an innocent bystander had been badly injured "in the death throes of this relationship".

She said Stupart had amassed four convictions, two related to domestic incidents and two for breaching bail, after they married and their relationship began to deteriorate.

Mrs Duff said Stupart had made a suicide attempt by jumping off the Tay Bridge but first sent a text to his wife to say "sorry and goodbye".

She contacted emergency services who rescued him from the River Tay but he was subsequently prosecuted for breaching bail by contacting her.

The defence counsel said Stupart had now contacted solicitors to begin divorce proceedings.

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