Man jailed for trying to kill cleaner in two-day attack spree

A man has been convicted of trying to kill a cleaner during a 48-hour attack spree.

Edward Coyle pounced on terrified Margaret Campbell as she made her way to work in Glasgow's Gorbals in March last year.

Margaret, who's 58, was brutally stabbed six times as she gasped at Coyle: “Oh, my God.”

It was the fourth apparently random attack the 50 year-old carried out in just two days.

All his victims – including Margaret – recalled Coyle saying nothing as he struck.

He denied being the culprit during a trial at the High Court in Glasgow.

But, Coyle was found guilty of two attempted murders as well as two assault charges.

It then emerged he was locked up for shameless indecency last year.

Coyle will return to the dock in August.

Margaret was set upon in the city's Dixon Blazes industrial estate as she walked to her early hours cleaning job on March 17 last year.

She found it “strange” when she spotted a man in an area usually quiet at that time.

Coyle's distinctive red jacket stood out. She tried to avoid him – but he came storming over.

The mum could not recall seeing a weapon as the stabbing was “so quick”.

Traumatised Margaret was off work for eight months after the assaults.

She said: “I am scared and on medication to try and calm me down.

“I do not like anyone approaching me and I am nervous all the time.”

Coyle had carried out three other vicious knife attacks on strangers two days earlier.

Another man had originally been held for three earlier attacks.

But, he was freed following the assault on Margaret. It led to Coyle eventually being detained for all four crimes.

Lord Armstrong imposed an interim compulsion order on Coyle for him to remain at the State Hospital in Carstairs.

He is currently receiving treatment there for a mental disorder.

The judge adjourned the case until August