Fife dad who killed unborn twins in attack on partner sentenced

A man who stabbed his 32-weeks pregnant girlfriend in the neck, causing her to lose their unborn twins through loss of blood, may never be released.

Stephen Ramsay was jailed for five years today, but made subject to an Order for Lifelong Restriction, meaning he will only ever be freed if considered no longer a danger.

A judge described the incident as "of the utmost gravity".

Ramsay, 36, launched a "frenzied" attack on Lisa Donaldson in their flat -- after wrongly accusing her of taking money he had obtained by posing as a homeless beggar on the streets of Edinburgh.

Police kicked in the door of the property in Glenrothes, Fife, after being called by a neighbour in the February 23, 2019 incident.

They found Lisa, now also 36, with her throat cut, and Ramsay crouching on top of her on a blood-saturated floor, continuing to throttle her.

She was "almost unrecognisable" because of bruising and swelling to her face.

Blood was spurting from her neck each time she tried to breathe.

Ramsay said, "Aye, I slit her throat", but later tried to lie that Lisa had self-harmed, or the attack had been carried out by a "bloke upstairs".

He also suggested he had been trying to save Lisa's life when he was found with his hands round her neck, asking: "Was I holding her to, like, stop the bleeding?"

Lisa's heart stopped twice and had to be re-started by CPR provided by the police -- who won an award for their actions -- and paramedics.

She was rushed unconscious to the Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy, where she was placed in a medically-induced coma and an emergency caesarian section was performed, but the twins -- a boy and a girl -- were already dead.

Doctors said they had been deprived of sufficient blood supply, because the assault on their mother.

Prosecutor Derick Nelson said: "The twins did not survive for longer than a couple of minutes after the circulatory collapse.

"At this stage of gestation it is rare to have a stillbirth. There was nothing other than the assault to suggest why these babies died."

Detectives later spoke to Ms Donaldson in hospital and she told them that Ramsay had been in Edinburgh and when he returned home she went to give him a cuddle but he went "mental".

She said he was "wasted" and grabbed a kitchen knife and put it to her throat. She suffered a spinal cord injury because of the stab wound to her neck and respiratory arrest, along with extensive bruising and at least 22 separate injuries on her torso alone.

She suffered brain damage and was left with balance problems.

When Ramsay was told the unborn babies had died he shouted: "I've murdered my kids. I deserve to die, just kill me now."

Ramsay, of Glenrothes, admitted attempting to murder Lisa, knowing she was pregnant, causing the deaths of the twins.

Solicitor advocate John Keenan, defending, told the High Court in Aberdeen]: "It's clear the consequences were devastating."

He said his client's position about the incident was "now one of denial", despite his guilty plea.

The court heard a psychiatrist had assessed Ramsay as suffering from a personality type for which there is no effective treatment, with "an enduring propensity to endanger the wellbeing of the public at large".

Making Ramsay subject to an Order for Lifelong Restriction, with a punishment part of five years, judge Lord Kinclaven told Ramsay: "This was an offence of the utmost seriousness and the utmost gravity... which caused the death of two 32-week-old unborn babies."

He told Ramsay the sentence did not mean he would be released after five years.

He said: "Your release will depend on the appropriate authorities determining that it's no longer necessary for the protection of the public that you should continue to be confined in custody."

He also imposed a non-harassment order, banning Ramsay from having contact with Lisa, described as "vulnerable", after hearing that in a phone call while in prison, recorded by police, he had threatened her again with violence only last month.

Ramsay swore out loud as he was led to the cells.

Before the tragedy, doctors had been planning to deliver the baby boy and baby girl early, and samples taken from them showed no infection or genetic abnormalities.

The court was told that Ms Donaldson had named her twins Edith and Ajay.

The four police officers who hauled Ramsay off Lisa, not knowing if he was still armed, and went on to save her life were later recognised with Scottish Police Federation bravery awards.