William Budge who drove over his wife in murder bid after she left him 'should have jail term increased'

A man who tried to murder his wife in a horrific car attack after she left him should have his jail increased, Scotland’s senior law officer has said.

The Lord Advocate, Dorothy Bain KC, argued that the punishment imposed on William Budge for the attempted murder of his wife was “unduly lenient”.

She asked judges at the appeal court in Edinburgh to uphold a Crown appeal brought against the sentence and to quash it and sentence Budge, 62, anew for his crimes.

Budge was jailed for seven years and four months earlier this year after driving his car straight at the 63-year-old woman and hitting her before carrying out a U-turn and returning to drive over the stricken victim again as she lay helpless on the ground.

The attack was caught on CCTV and the judge who jailed him said it was “quite horrifying to watch” and that it was remarkable that his wife was not killed.

Lord Lake told the first offender at the High Court in Edinburgh: “The callousness and cruelty of your actions are astonishing.”

The judge took as a starting point for his sentence an 11-year jail term but reduced it to take into account his guilty plea to the crime.

But prosecution lawyers brought a challenge arguing against the sentence imposed and the level of discount given to Budge.

The Lord Advocate told appeal judges: “The CCTV footage puts it beyond doubt that this a particularly serious example of attempted murder.”

She said that after the initial phase of the attack Budge “went on to the main road and turned back through traffic to deliberately run over the victim for a second time when she incapacitated and lying on the ground”.

She said: “The victim in this case was a victim of domestic abuse at the hands of the respondent (Budge) over many years.”

“He has plainly gone there to attack the victim. He is forcing her into the car. He is trying to get the phone off her. When that does not succeed he drives over her,” she said.

Defence counsel Wendy Culross, for Budge, argued against the Crown appeal and maintained that there was no evidence of premeditation in the attempted murder.

Budge, formerly of Edinburgh, admitted attempting to murder his wife on April 14 last year at the city’s Muirhouse Parkway.

During the assault to her severe injury, permanent disfigurement and impairment and to the danger of her life he seized her by the body, tried to take her phone and to force her into his car before driving at her, knocking her to the ground and driving over her and returning to drive over her again as she lay on the ground. The offence was aggravated by involving the abuse of his ex-partner.

He also admitted previously assaulting her on an occasion between April 2016 and April 2017 by putting his hands around her throat. He also pleaded guilty to subjecting her to a course of abusive behaviour between April 2019 and April 2024 when he shouted and swore at her, called her names, prodded her on the head with his fingers and made excessive phone calls to her at night.

The court heard that Budge had a bad temper and called her “a frigid b****” and a “s***” during their relationship. In March last year she left Budge after 33 years of marriage and moved into a flat before he turned up and carried out the car attack.

The victim suffered liver and lung injuries in the murder bid as well as internal bleeding and multiple fractures to bones.

The Lord Justice General, Lord Pentland, sitting with Lord Doherty and Lord Clark, reserved their decision in the appeal and will give a ruling at a later date yet to be fixed.