Man guilty of killing stranger by pushing her off Helensburgh Pier

A 29-year-old man has been found guilty of killing a stranger by picking her up and then pushing her off a pier.

Jacob Foster attacked Charmaine O'Donnell at Helensburgh Pier, in Argyll and Bute, in April last year.

Jurors at the the High Court in Glasgow heard Ms O'Donnell, 25, suffered severe neck injuries and drowned after she was pushed into the water.

Foster was convicted of culpable homicide after a trial. He had denied murdering Ms O'Donnell.

His lawyers had lodged a special defence of diminished responsibility, claiming the accused had an "abnormality of mind" at the time.

But jurors found Foster guilty of culpable homicide by picking Ms O'Donnell up and carrying her, before pushing her off the pier.

Charmaine, of Glasgow, had gone on a day out to Helensburgh with her friend Caitlin McTaggart.

Caitlin, 25, told jurors: "I had wanted to go the Campsies where there is a waterfall.

"She said 'no' because she would have ended up in the water basically."

The young women had then swithered about going to Largs in Ayrshire but decided to catch the train to Helensburgh.

They got chatting to men fishing at the pier as Foster lurked nearby.

A group of youngsters had also been jumping into the water to swim.

Caitlin the recalled suddenly hearing a "commotion".

She said "somebody" had gone over the railings at the pier.

Caitlin did not initially know who it was, but a person shouted: "That's your pal."

She then peered over and to her horror found Charmaine in the sea.

A number of the youngsters there immediately tried to help.

Prosecutor Alex Prentice QC asked Caitlin: "Did you say anything to Jacob?"

Caitlin: "I was screaming at him to help her. He just kept saying: 'What have I done? I have taken it too far this time. I am going away for a long time'."

Paramedics and police raced to the scene, but Charmaine did not survive.

Stephen Cairns, 42, was one of the men fishing that day. He remembered Foster shoving Charmaine over the edge.

Mr Prentice: "So, with her back to Jacob, who then pushed her with both hands?"

Stephen: "Yes. It was just carnage after that."

PC Gary Davidson spoke to Foster at the pier after the incident.

The officer told jurors: "He said that it was an accident. He said: 'I just pushed her. It was just a bit of fun'.

"He said that he had a few cans that day.

"I said to him the best thing was to stay calm and not say anything, but he said these things again and again."

Foster added: "I did not know that she could not swim."

Foster's lawyers had claimed - due his mental health issues - he had misunderstood an alleged remark Charmaine made about going into the water.

But, in his closing speech, Mr Prentice said there was "overwhelming" evidence Foster pushed Charmaine insisting it was "deliberate conduct".

Sean Templeton, defending, had asked for Foster to be completely acquitted stating: "It was a young man with learning difficulties who got it wrong."

It emerged after the verdict Foster had a number of previous convictions including assaulting a staff member at a Costa coffee shop in Helensburgh in 2018.

Mr Prentice told the court Charmaine had been on furlough at the time from her job as an assistant manager at a British Heart Foundation shop.

She was due to return a week after she died.

The advocate depute: "It is clear she was much loved and her death has brought untold and continuing grief.

"She was described as a loving and selfless person."

Lord Fairley said in the "very unusual circumstances" of the case he would continue bail and adjourned for reports.

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