Inspector 'told officers not to stop murder suspect's car'

Police officers were told not stop a gunman accused of murdering his brother-in-law by an inspector in a control room nearly 200 miles away, a court was told.

An Inspector asked permission to stop a car being driven by Finlay MacDonald in the aftermath of alleged stabbing and shooting incidents on the Isle of Skye.

But another Inspector in a control room in Dundee denied the request, telling him specialist firearms officers were on their way from Inverness.

The officers eventually decided to intervene after seeing MacDonald allegedly firing a shotgun through the window of Fay and John MacKenzie’s house in the village of Dornie, Wester Ross.

They said they found Mr and Mrs MacKenzie along with MacDonald in the hall, with Mr MacKenzie bleeding heavily from his side

The officers used pava spray on MacDonald and he was struck with a baton and shot with a Taser.

MacDonald is charged with murdering John MacKinnon on Skye on August 10, 2022.

The 41-year-old is also accused of attempting to murder his wife Rowena MacDonald and Fay and John MacKenzie.

MacDonald denies murder, and has lodged a special defence that at the time of the alleged offence his ability to determine or control his conduct was substantially impaired by abnormality of mind.

He has also pleaded not guilty to charges of attempting to murder three people and charges under the Firearms Act.

Giving evidence at the High Court in Edinburgh, Sergeant Christopher Tait, 36, said he was initially instructed to attend a report of a stabbing on the island at Tarskavaig but received an update that there was a shooting incident.

He said he was passed information about a vehicle belonging to MacDonald and said: ‘I spotted the accused’s vehicle going past me.’

He did a three point turn, contacted his control room and began to follow the Subaru Impreza before he was joined by a police inspector in another car.

Advocate depute Liam Ewing KC asked him how the Subaru was being driven and he said: ‘It appeared to be driven in a normal fashion within the rules of the road and was within the speed limit in my view.’

They travelled over the Skye bridge and continued to follow the car to Dornie where the driver sped up before stopping at a house.

Sergeant Tait said he saw the driver at the top of a driveway holding a firearm and aiming through a window of the house before the weapon was fired through the window.

Mr Ewing said to the officer: ‘I understand the operational decisions about what happened that day were not taken by you.’

He added: ‘I mean no criticism of anyone involved but let me ask you this did you consider an attempt to stop the Subaru at any point?’

Sergeant Tait said: ‘It did enter my head to come up with a plan to try and stop him but at the time I was told specialist firearms officers were coming up to stop him.’

The prosecutor said: ‘The instruction you received was not to attempt to stop the Subaru?’

The sergeant said: ‘That’s correct, yes.’

Inspector Bruce Crawford, 40, who was in the second car, was asked if he made an attempt to stop the vehicle ahead.

He said: ‘I requested permission to try and stop the vehicle and was told by the control room not to stop the vehicle.’

Donald Findlay KC, defence counsel for MacDonald, asked Sergeant Tait if it was only when the gun was fired and the man went into the house at Dornie that he and the inspector made a run towards the house.

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The officer said this was correct, adding: ‘I believe I heard shouting and screaming from the house as we were running towards it.’

The officer said he discharged his Taser twice at the gunman. He said the male occupant of the house was on the floor and had a large amount of blood around his abdomen.

A woman was also there with ‘obvious facial injuries’ who was screaming at the accused.

Inspector Crawford said that when they arrived in Dornie he saw the driver of the Subaru in possession of a shotgun.

He said: ‘I started making my way towards him. It was at that point a lady came out of the side door of the house. I just shouted as loud as I possibly could to try to get his attention. 

'I was shouting at the lady “get back in your house and lock your doors”’.

The inspector said the woman ran back inside and he saw the man bring the shotgun up to an aiming position on his shoulder before he fired through a window.

He shouted at him telling him to put the gun down but said the man loaded the gun again before he headed into the house.

The officer followed him into the house and said he heard two loud bangs and a woman screaming.

He told the court he found them in the hall with the male occupant bleeding heavily from his side grappling with the gunman and the woman also bleeding. He said the lady in the house was trying to get him off her husband and struck him with a metal toilet roll holder.

Inspector Crawford said he used pava spray on the attacker but it did not seem to have an effect before he struck him with a baton while his colleague used a Taser.

The trial continues.