Jail for attack on lorry driver

Martin was sentenced at the High Court in Edinburgh

A man from Lewis who savagely stabbed a fellow lorry driver in an unexplained attack has been jailed for four-and-a-half years.

James Martin, 49, stabbed Raymond Neilson in the stomach in May after stopping his lorry as he headed towards the ferry terminal at Stornoway.

Mr Neilson, 47, who knew his attacker, was stabbed as he went to move Martin's car, which was blocking his lorry.

The judge told Martin he had committed a "very serious offence".

The High Court in Edinburgh heard Martin overtook his victim's lorry in a car and blocked his path.

Emergency surgery

Mr Neilson invited Martin into the cab of his lorry.

However, he realised that Martin was behaving strangely and had "a mad look in his eyes" as well as speaking incoherently.

Mr Neilson, who had a deadline to meet, got out of his cab and went towards Martin's car intending to move the vehicle himself.

But Martin followed him and suddenly stabbed him in the stomach without warning.

His victim was taken to Western Isles Hospital with a large penetrating wound and a number of arteries cut.

His liver was injured and he needed five units of blood after emergency surgery.

Judge Lord Mackay told Martin: "But for the fact that the victim was taken to hospital and operated on promptly you might have been facing a charge of murder."

The court heard that if Mr Neilson had gone for a further half hour without surgery he would have died.

Defence solicitor advocate Billy Lavelle said Martin had been an HGV driver for 25 years but was diagnosed with diabetes three years ago.

He confirmed that he was asking the court to deal with the offence on the basis that the knife attack was carried out for some "unexplained" reason.