STV NewsA woman who looked on as her friend tried to murder a man involved in a dispute with family members over £130,000 has been jailed.
Marion Hawkins, 41, was given a four-year sentence on Tuesday by Judge Lady Poole at the High Court in Edinburgh.
The court heard how the victim was ambushed in his home in Maybole, Ayrshire, by Hawkins and Barry Marshall, also 41, on December 11, 2019.
Jurors heard how Hawkins looked on as Marshall repeatedly struck the man with a machete.
The attack happened on the same day the victim’s sister reported him to police for refusing to hand over a safe which contained cash.
She was forced to deny having any knowledge of the attack on her brother.
Marshall – later identified by police as the partner of his sister’s daughter – and his friend Hawkins repeatedly struck the man with the weapon as he tried to defend himself during the attack.
The pair left without the money, but the man suffered stab wounds and debilitating injuries.
The court heard how he had sustained “lacerations” which were “down to the bone.”
The jury also heard how the victim’s hands would not work when using a phone to ask for help. He managed to crawl out and kick his neighbour’s door, who summoned for assistance.
Both Marshall and Hawkins were convicted of a charge of attempted murder and robbery at a trial earlier this year. Lady Poole gave Marshall a ten-year sentence, and the sentence was deferred on Hawkins to obtain a report.
On Tuesday, Hawkins appeared via video link at the High Court in Edinburgh for sentencing.
Her defence advocate, Gareth Reid, told Lady Poole that she had an “undiagnosed degenerative neurological condition.”
He said that these health problems would cause her to have issues coping with a custodial term.
However, Lady Poole said that Hawkins’s role in the assault differed from her co-accused, and this meant she could receive a lesser sentence.
Ordering Hawkins to be supervised by the authorities for four years following her release from jail, Lady Poole added: “Given the nature of the crime to which you have been convicted, only a custodial sentence is appropriate in this case.”
At earlier proceedings, the court heard how the victim and his relatives had agreed he would look after the cash while their dad was in hospital. Jurors heard how the money was stored in a safe.
However, his sister – who had power of attorney over their dad’s personal affairs – then demanded it be returned.
The woman, who was not on trial, denied “encouraging” anyone to target her brother and insisted she was “horrified” when she learned he had been stabbed.
She told the court that her brother had felt the safe had to be removed while their dad’s house was empty. However, there was then a “disagreement” when their dad later got out of hospital.
She said she asked “several times” for the cash box to be returned and stated her dad eventually “asked her to go to the police.”
The view of the woman and her daughter was that her dad’s safe was “rightfully his”.
Jurors heard how they had been a “close family” but that the dispute over the safekeeping of the cash had shattered relations.
On the day of the attack, the man had been home ill and was on the phone to his other sister when his doorbell was repeatedly rung.
She had urged him not to answer, but he eventually did.
As he opened the door, he was “knocked back” by a gloved woman before “a guy jumped in with a big machete”.
The court heard the armed man started “chopping” at him across his body with the machete.
The victim said: “If I had not raised my arm, I do not think I would still be here.”
He said there were yells of “where is the safe, where is the money?” during the attack.
The victim tried unsuccessfully to escape into the kitchen and shut the door.
He said: “He still kept trying to get me. Whenever he got closer, he had another shot.
“For some reason, they decided they were going and said, ‘We will be back. It is not finished’.”
His sister said she learned what had happened to her brother that night.
She told the trial: “I was horrified. I could not understand.”
When asked if she had any involvement or had put anyone up to it, she stated, “No, never.
“I only wanted my dad to get his money back. We had been a close family.”
Marshall, of Pollok, Glasgow, blamed Hawkins for the attack and claimed he had sat in his car while she went into the house.
Hawkins, of East Kilbride, denied being there, but they were both found guilty of attempted murder and the robbery of their victim’s mobile phone.
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