Court calls for psychiatric report on man who tried to drown wife

Published on Tuesday 14 February 2012 12:06

A MAN who was accused of trying to drown his wife in the bath is to have his mental health checked before being sentenced.

Sheriff Donald Muirhead called for a psychiatric report on William McQueen before deciding how to sentence him.

McQueen, 41, formerly known as William Lister, pleaded guilty to the attack when he appeared on indictment at Livingston Sheriff Court.

As his former wife Catherine Lister and their 21-year-old son Steven looked on, McQueen pleaded guilty on indictment to carrying out two bizarre assaults on them nearly nine years ago.

On one charge he admitted pulling Mrs Lister by the legs while she was in the bath, causing her head to go under the water.

He then held her legs in the air so that she was unable to lift her head and was therefore unable to breathe. He also admitted using martial arts techniques to put her in a headlock causing her to almost lose consciousness.

The Crown accepted a reduced plea that the assault to injury was not to the danger of Mrs Lister’s life, as was originally alleged. On a second charge McQueen admitted injuring his son Steven Lister, then aged 12 or 13, by striking him on the body with martial arts weapons.

Both offences were committed at the family’s homes in Linlithgow and Livingston, West Lothian, between December 2002 and December 2003.

Because McQueen is deaf, an interpreter typed everything said in court on a netbook so the accused could read it.

Duncan Hughes, defending, said that the accused had been suffering from “fairly extreme mental health problems” at the time of the offences.

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