Man jailed over petrol attack on girlfriend’s killer

A man who threw petrol over his girlfriend’s killer and tried to set him on fire outside court has been jailed for three years.

Allister Gibb poured the flammable liquid over murderer Robert Chalmers near the High Court in Edinburgh.

Gibb, 32, had sought revenge on the day Chalmers was convicted of the 2008 murder of 24-year-old Samantha Wright whose body was dumped in a wheelie bin.

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Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard how feelings of anger and hatred towards Chalmers had dominated Gibb’s thinking and behaviour.

Gibb, of Calder Crescent, Edinburgh pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to a charge of assault, endangering the lives of Chalmers and Reliance security officers Alan Simpson and Kevin McDonagh on May 12 this year.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard how the petrol thrown from a bottle by Gibb landed on Chalmers’ clothing on his shoulders, arms and legs as he was being led away from the court. It also splashed on the two security officers.

Gibb then lunged at Chalmers and made an unsuccessful attempt to set fire to his clothes. The court heard how Gibb, arrested moments after the attack, apologised to the Reliance staff at the time.

A background report compiled for the court found that Gibb had “ongoing feelings of hatred and anger” towards Chalmers. Those feelings, as well as his desire for revenge, dominated his thoughts and actions, it noted.

Defence lawyer David Storrie told the court that his client was unlikely ever to be in a similar situation again.

“One would certainly hope that Mr Gibb and Mr Chalmers will never be in a position for their paths to cross again,” he said.

The court also heard how Chalmers said in a statement: “This incident should have made me mad but I feel sorry for him.”

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Passing sentence, Sheriff Stephen Arthurson QC told Gibb: “I have considerable sympathy for your distress in relation to the murder trial, in which I understand you were a witness.”

However, he told Gibb the offence was so serious that he had considered sending it up to the High Court, which has tougher sentencing powers.

He said Gibb had “shown a disregard for the welfare of others” and he had to impose a sentence of punishment and deterrence. The sheriff reduced the sentence from a four-year starting point in light of Gibb’s early plea of guilty.

Ms Wright, from Stevenage in Hertfordshire but lived in Edinburgh, was reported missing on what would have been her 25th birthday in January 2009. She had failed to get in touch with her family for several months.

Chalmers was jailed for life in June and was ordered to spend at least 23 years behind bars for murdering Ms Wright on June 12 or 13 2008 at his Edinburgh home.

Revealed in court to be a double killer, Chalmers hid his victim’s naked and partially dismembered body in a bin after the murder.

A judge branded the crime “depraved and dreadful” when he passed the sentence which could see the killer die in jail.

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