Axe Attack Ex-husband Imprisoned for 13 Years

A man who tracked down his ex-wife and attacked her with an axe causing her spine to severe has been jailed for 13 years.

Roland Cook, 59, drove hundreds of miles from his home in England in a hired van with blacked out windows to attack Barbara Graham, 55, as she walked home from her job in an Edinburgh supermarket in June.

The mother-of-three's spine was cut in two; she will be in a wheelchair for the rest of her life.

Although later able to identify her attacker, Ms Graham at the time did not know it was Mr Cook.

During sentencing at Edinburgh High Court Lord Hodge said: "The attack was deliberate, savage and murderous."

The couple married in 1979 and moved to Livingston, West Lothian, in 1983 but parted four years later.

They were reconciled in 1990 when they lived in England, but the couple split that year and Ms Graham returned to Scotland with her children.

The only contact since then had been one telephone call, and in 1995 they were divorced.

In 2006 Cook drove to Edinburgh, seeking out Ms Graham and their children, but unable to find them returned to England.

The court heard how Cook, who admitted attempted murder, had borne a grudge after his then wife accused him of assaulting her 20 years earlier. He told police the allegation had "ruined his life".

Advocate depute Ashley Edwards said: "He knew the addresses of Barbara Cook and his children by this stage, having carried out an investigation using the telephone directory and the electoral roll.

"He slept in the van, parking it in various streets close to his ex-wife's home and he used the facilities at Waverley Station and elsewhere to wash."

The court heard on June 19 Cook waited all day for Ms Graham to finish work. Just before 6pm he began to follow her carrying his axe in a laptop bag.

"The accused attacked her from behind. He put the axe round her neck and used this to pull her to the ground."

"He then struck her repeatedly on the head and body with the axe.

"Barbara Graham felt something sinking into her back and immediately had difficulty breathing," Miss Edwards said.

(GK/JM)