Dornie osteopath 'disarmed former patient after shooting'

A retired osteopath disarmed a former patient of a gun after the man shot him and his wife at their home, a murder trial has heard.

Finlay MacDonald, 41, is accused of attempting to murder John MacKenzie and his wife Fay in Dornie, Wester Ross, during a series of alleged attacks on 10 August 2022.

Mr MacKenzie, 65, told the High Court in Edinburgh he was shot in the back while protecting his wife before he struggled with Mr MacDonald and took the shotgun from him.

Mr MacDonald is also accused of attempting to murder his wife Rowena MacDonald and murdering his brother-in-law John MacKinnon in Skye on the same day. He denies all charges and has lodged a special defence to the murder allegation.

Mr MacKenzie said he had been outside feeding pigs on his croft and was returning to his house when he heard someone shouting: "Drop the weapon. Drop the weapon."

He said he saw Mr MacDonald standing at a front window with a gun.

Mr MacKenzie said: "Straight away I knew this was a bad situation. I just knew it was bad."

He went inside and found his wife with her face covered in blood, a towel wrapped around her head and "quite distressed".

Mrs MacKenzie said they needed to go into the bathroom and lock the door, the court heard.

They were in the bathroom when she said: "There's the man. There's the man."

Mr MacKenzie told the court he put his wife on the floor.

He said: "I lay on top of her to protect her and then he shot me in the back.

"The struggle for the gun occurred after that. I got up, took the gun off him."

Mr MacKenzie then heard calls of "shots fired, shots fired" before police used a Taser.

He said he lost a kidney and suffered other injuries in the shooting.

Mr MacKenzie said he was an osteopath for 40 years before retiring in April 2022.

He said Mr MacDonald had earlier contacted him complaining of chest pain and respiratory problems and had been off work for a year.

After two treatment sessions he said Mr MacDonald claimed his back was uncomfortable.

Defence counsel Donald Findlay KC said jurors would hear that Mr MacDonald became "fixated" with Mr MacKenzie over damage he believed was caused by treatment given to him.

Mr MacDonald denies all charges and has lodged a special defence to the murder allegation, claiming he was suffering from abnormality of mind.

The trial continues.