Dundee man guilty of killing his mother

McDonald had denied culpable homicide on the grounds of insanity

A man who stabbed his mother to death just days after being released from a psychiatric unit has been found guilty of culpable homicide.

Mark McDonald attacked the 66-year-old last July because he thought she was part of a plot to kill him.

Veronica Reid was found dead with more than 100 wounds in her garage in Dundee's Kelso Place.

A jury at the High Court in Perth rejected the 42-year-old's plea that he was insane at the time.

Judge Lord Malcolm ordered McDonald to be detained at the State Hospital at Carstairs on the grounds that he was suffering from a mental disorder.

He will be detained for 10 weeks under mental health legislation while reports are prepared, and will be sentenced at the High Court in Edinburgh on 11 October.

Mrs Reid was stabbed more than 30 times and her neck was broken during the attack by her son, who was being monitored by an acute mental health response team at the time.

After leaving her body in a pool of blood, he put his jeans in the washing machine, locked up the house and calmly drove to Carseview Centre in Dundee to seek psychiatric treatment.

He later admitted to police that he had enticed his mother into her garage before attacking her with a kitchen knife.

'Mafia Don'

The trial at the High Court in Perth heard how McDonald believed he had been made a Mafia Don at the age of two and was being secretly watched by members of the Dundee underworld.

He thought taxi drivers who drove past his home and neighbours were involved in the plot and were exchanging secret code signals with his mother.

The attack took place just three days after McDonald was released from psychiatric care.

Psychiatrist Dr Audrey Morrison told the court she had not wanted to release him from Carseview Centre as she was concerned his mental health had deteriorated in the days before he killed Mrs Reid on 31 July.

However, Dr Morrison told the jury McDonald had been a voluntary inpatient and therefore she did not think she could compel him to stay in hospital.

McDonald had denied a charge of culpable homicide on the grounds of insanity.

He did not face a murder charge because the Crown accepted he was suffering from diminished responsibility.