Man who stabbed Scottish sailor in the Philippines is jailed for 15 years

Published on 23/06/2012 02:07

A MAN who killed a Scottish sailor in the Philippines has been jailed for up to 15 years.

John MacDonald, 27, was stabbed to death by Anselmo Lacostales after a row broke out in Angono on 5 September, 2010.

The Aberdeen naval officer had travelled to help a woman after she claimed to be pregnant with his child.

Witnesses said Lacostales was introduced to him as Nanqueen Romero’s brother, but he was actually the father of her children.

It is claimed that the merchant seaman was attacked when she broke the news to Lacostales that she wanted to marry Mr MacDonald.

He was stabbed then left to die in her apartment after trying to protect Ms Romero from being assaulted.

Lacostales was later traced and accused of murdering Mr MacDonald, but the 29-year-old pled guilty to a reduced charge of homicide at a court in Manila earlier this year. His family, who live in Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, have been battling to see their son’s killer convicted for the past two years.

Yesterday, his mother Joanne MacDonald said: “I couldn’t sleep the night before the sentencing. I felt sick. I feel no joy now that this has happened. I am just glad it is all over.”

Police believe he had been on a night out with a group of people, which included the killer and Ms Romero, in the hours before his death.

It is understood the group had gone back to Ms Romero’s apartment, where the row had broken out.

Lacostales went into hiding for more than a year after the seaman’s death.