SNP MSP: I was charged with attempted murder as a 15-year-old boy

An SNP MSP has revealed he was charged with attempted murder as a teenager.

James Dornan said guilt associated with the incident, which happened when he was just 15, sticks to him “like a curse”.

He said he found it too difficult to watch the smash hit Netflix drama Adolescence as a result.

James Dornan MSP | John Devlin/Scotsman

Mr Dornan, who represents Glasgow Cathcart, told The National: “I find this quite traumatic and very difficult emotionally to look at something that triggers things that have happened in my past, having just seen the clips.

“When you’re a young man, you do things without thinking of the repercussions and then the repercussions just expand, and everyone is caught up in it. I didn’t want to see two actors playing a very emotional role that I could see being my mum and dad.”

Adolescence tells the story of a 13-year-old boy who is arrested on suspicion of murdering a girl in his school, and the ensuing impact on his family.

Opening up for the first time about the events of 57 years ago, Mr Dornan, who is now 72, said he was with a group of friends in Glasgow when he punched another young man.

Someone else then hit the boy with an object, Mr Dornan said, leaving him seriously injured.

The MSP said he was arrested a few days later and charged with attempted murder. This was later downgraded to common assault, and he was given a £15 fine and two years’ probation.

“The first bad bit was when my dad came down [to the police station] because my dad was straight as a die and this sort of thing was just awful,” Mr Dornan told The National.

“I felt shame and fear. I felt shame my mum would be suffering but also that my dad was going to have to go through this and at the same time I felt fear because I had no idea what was going to happen to me.

“I am now 57 years away from that incident and I still feel responsible for lots of things that have happened because of it, how people felt because of that incident.

“I don’t think about it all the time but one of the problems I’ve got is I carry guilt about with me. It sticks with you like a curse. It never leaves you.”

Mr Dornan said he wanted his story to show others there can be a “way out”.

He said: “When you get into trouble, there’s a way out. You’re not trapped in that moment. If I had gone to prison for this, I would’ve come out a completely different person, and not a better person.

“If you get the opportunity, take it and try and move forward and try and make sure you can improve your life and try give something back, even if it’s just to yourself, because very often you’re the person suffering as much as anyone else.”