Lindsay Lowe who repeatedly stabbed her former partner has been cleared by a jury of attempted murder. Instead, the jury found her guilty of assaulting Steven Clarke to his severe injury under provocation.
The incident occurred in Broxburn where Lowe admitted to attacking Clarke eight times with a four-inch kitchen devil utility knife. However, she denied attempting to murder him.
Lowe’s position was that she had acted in self-defence as she feared for her life. She told the court that Clarke had beaten her, strangled her and hit her over the head with a beer bottle.
One of the injuries inflicted upon Clarke caused his left lung to collapse, resulting in the endangerment of his life. Neighbours who arrived on the scene told the High Court in Livingston that there was ‘blood everywhere’.
One witness found Lowe standing beside the kitchen sink with the knife still in her hand and Clarke against a radiator covered in blood.
The witness told the court: “It wasn’t until I seen the knife in her hand and I turned and I seen Steven that I thought: ‘Oh she has done it!’. I said: ‘Lindsay what have you done? What’s happened?’ She said he was beating her and she lifted the knife in self-defence.
She said that she had passed out and when she came to she was in the bedroom and Steven was choking her and that he’d hit her with a bottle. Lindsay told me again that he’d hit her and banged her head off a wall and that she’d stabbed him.”
The jury deliberated for a number of hours and returned a majority verdict. They deleted the attempted murder and found Lowe guilty of a reduced charge of assault to severe injury, permanent disfigurement, and danger to life.
Judge Lord Weir continued Lowe’s bail and requested a criminal justice social work report to be carried out before sentencing on the 28th of March.