A Dunfermline hackney cab driver was left fighting for his life after he was attacked by a Cornton Vale prisoner who was out on day release.
Joe Cameron has spoken of his ordeal which took place in February 2015. He was stabbed by prisoner, Kim Gray, when she was allowed home to watch Fifty Shades of Grey at the Vue cinema in Stirling.
The Incident
47-year-old Kim, plunged a knife into Mr Cameron’s back as he waited on his next fare outside a flat on Appin Crescent. Gray watched as Mr Cameron staggered back to his vehicle before collapsing beside his taxi.
Mr Cameron went into cardiac arrest and ‘died’ before being brought back to life at Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy. Kim Gray was later sentenced to a mere 40 months in prison for her actions.
Mr Cameron commented: “I’m more frustrated than angry. Where’s the justice?
“The government say it’s five years for carrying a knife but if you stab someone and kill them – I was just lucky the hospital staff brought me back – you get less than five years?
“And to top it all, she’s out at the pictures with a heroin dealer. Does that make sense to you?
“If she had shown any remorse, then fair enough, but she hasn’t. To me she’s a danger to the public.”
No Justice for the Innocent
Thomas Docherty, MP for Dunfermline and West Fife, agreed that more should be done to support the victims of these horrific crimes.
He said: “We seem to care a lot more about the rights of those who commit offences rather than the likes of Joe, who was entirely innocent and in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“We seem to care a lot more about the rights of those who commit offences rather than the likes of Joe, who was entirely innocent and in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“Victims should be at the heart of the justice system and far too often they’re not.
“He’s suffered life-changing injuries and no-one’s offering to take him to the cinema.
“A hard-working guy going about his work is assaulted and severely injured and the perpetrator gets more support and sympathy from the system than he does!”
Life Changing
Sadly, Mr Cameron’s injuries were so severe that he has not only lost all his confidence and independence; he has also lost his job.
The family man commented: “My independence was taken away, my job was taken away, my self-confidence was taken away and for what reason I will never know.
“It doesn’t just affect me but my family and the people around me. My daughter was pregnant at the time and had to see the state of me in hospital.
“She had my grandson prematurely and whether that had something to do with it I don’t know.
“Maybe it would have happened anyway but it was always in my head that she could lose the bairn because of what happened to me.
“The people that do these things don’t see that, do they even care?”