Spanish authorities have rejected a bid by a Lanarkshire knife thug to serve the remainder of a 15-year prison sentence in Scotland.
William McDonald wanted to be repatriated close to home just two years into the sentence for stabbing his former partner three times at his holiday home in Alicante.
He was convicted of trying to murder one-time Miss Scotland finalist Mhairi Campbell in 2017, the Daily Record reports. He has been held in Spain since being picked up on a European Arrest Warrant in Scotland the following year and finally convicted in 2021.
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His now 62-year-old victim has spoken of her relief at learning of the decision, she said: "I'm so relieved. The thought of him being in Scotland was very scary and I just want to keep him as far away as possible.
"The Spanish authorities will not repatriate for violent crimes, including; murder, rape, and attempted murder, so they've rejected his request.
"The fact that there is a precedent for not repatriating for violent crimes in Spain shows the arrogance of this man who still tried to appeal. But it's still great to see he finally can't do anything more. He has to serve that sentence there."
Speaking last year, Mhairi said McDonald, from Rutherglen, put her "through hell" when he appealed his conviction at the Spanish Supreme court.
Mhairi, who is currently living in a safe house, said she now just wants to get on with her life after the "emotional turmoil" McDonald's latest request has caused her.
She continued: "I am living in a safe house and I've been taken off the census. There's no reason he should be able to ever trace me, but this has forced me to go through emotional turmoil again and I just want to get on with my life. I don't want to be scared anymore. I don't deserve it."
Mhairi met McDonald through a friend and was in a relationship with him for six years before the attack in July 2017.
She previously told how she begged McDonald to help her after realising he had stabbed her multiple times as she tried to leave his home following a row. She claimed her attacker fled the apartment and she was only saved when a neighbour came to her aid.
Speaking at the time, she said: "I was right at the door when I felt something very cold hit my back. I fell to the floor. Then he stabbed me again, in the arm. That was when I realised the cold sharpness I felt was the knife.
"I kept begging him to get me help. I told him I'd tell the police it was an accident but he still said no. So I asked him to go, told him to run - anything to get him out of the apartment. Eventually, that's what he did.
"As soon as he was gone, I started screaming for help.
"He said he'd call an ambulance from a pay phone but he never did. My neighbour saved my life. She heard me and called for help."
Mhairi, who made the Miss Scotland finals in 1978, need emergency surgery after the attack.
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