Man who tried to murder lone female runner 'for no reason' jailed

A drug-fueled knife attacker who tried to murder a lone woman runner training for a marathon has been jailed for seven years.

Tommy-Jay Wallace, also known as Tommy-Jay Craig, repeatedly struck the woman, who was a complete stranger to him, on the head and body with a knife before walking away from the scene of the attack.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard that the victim was left suffering from anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder following the murder bid.

The court heard that the woman suffered lacerations to her face and neck and a substantial injury to her arm and underwent surgery following nerve damage.

A judge told Wallace: “This was a vicious, unprovoked attack on a woman who was a complete stranger to you.

“Not surprisingly, after such a vicious attack, she has been left with post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety. Your attack has had a totally devastating effect on every aspect of her life.”

He told the 24-year-old at the High Court in Edinburgh that he would have faced a ten-year jail term for the offence but for his early guilty plea.

Lord Young ordered that Wallace should also be under strict supervision in the community for a further five-year period, during which he will be subject to a licence and can be returned to prison if he breaches its conditions.

The prosecutor said that on the evening of May 14 last year, the woman went out for a run in Dundee as part of her marathon training.

She finished the run and began to walk home when she became aware of a man jumping out of the bushes and coming towards her. She initially thought it was a prank, but then came under attack and tried to fight him off.

The victim ran off in the direction of a nearby car park, where she thought there would be other people, but Wallace chased after her, caught up with her and grabbed her from behind.

He began to stab her, and she put up an arm to protect herself and was stabbed in the arm. She fought against him and kicked out, but he continued with the assault.

During the attempted murder, he grabbed her phone, which was in her hand throughout the assault. After the unprovoked violence ended, Wallace walked away in the direction of Dundee city centre.

Police received multiple calls over the attack, and officers found the bloodied victim in her running kit. Police also found Wallace at Broughty Ferry Road, and he said to them words to the effect that it was him they were looking for.

He told officers that the woman was running away from him and that he had no reason for doing it. During footage shown to the court, he was asked where the woman was, and Wallace, who appeared to have unblinking, staring eyes, replied: “I don’t know. I left her.”

Wallace said: “I get these voices in my head.” He revealed he had taken a mix of heroin and crack cocaine and thought he had tried LSD as well.

He later revealed he was previously diagnosed with drug-induced psychosis.

Unemployed Wallace, of Dundee, was admitted to having assaulted the woman to her severe injury and permanent disfigurement and attempting to murder her.

The court heard he has previous convictions, including for theft, police assault, possession of indecent images of children and breaching bail.