A man has been found guilty of killing his wife after she took her own life following a campaign of domestic abuse, in the first prosecution of its kind in Scotland.
Kimberly Milne, 28, died after jumping from a motorway bridge in July 2023. Her husband Lee Milne, 39, from Dundee, had denied manslaughter and a separate charge of domestic abuse, but was found guilty after a trial.
The High Court in Glasgow heard prosecutors that the couple had gotten together in late 2021 and that Milne had abused Kimberly from the beginning of the relationship until the day she died.
The couple married in 2022 and the court heard Kimberly had suffered significant domestic abuse in the 18 months before her death. Milne was also found guilty of engaging in abusive conduct towards his wife.
Before her death, Kimberly had spoken to police about an incident in 2022 in which Milne strangled her, the court heard.
“Lee and I were at his house and he went through my phone,” she had told officers.
“He saw messages from other men before we were together. He got angry and started yelling and insulting me.”
She said he had also insulted her, adding: “Immediately after this, he put both hands around my neck and pinned me against the kitchen wall.
“After a while he exchanged hands and pressed his right forearm against my neck.
“A few seconds passed and he let go and started crying, saying how sorry he was.”
In another incident in late 2022, Kimberly told police: “Lee repeatedly punched me in the ribs and I was begging him not to hurt me, but he wouldn’t listen to me.
“I felt unsafe, so I decided not to leave that night. I slept with a knife under my pillow because I was so afraid of it.”
The court heard that on one occasion, Milne knocked Kimberly to the ground by her hair, then apologized and claimed he was “not that kind of person”.
Milne had argued that he was not responsible for Kimberly’s death, which he said was “a terrible loss”, but said she had long-standing mental health problems and had attempted suicide.
After the verdict, prosecutor Alex Prentice KC said: “It is obvious what a far-reaching effect Kimberly’s death has had.
“They recognize that she had her own difficulties, but the circumstances of the death brought great misery to the family, perhaps unlikely from which they will truly recover.”
The court was told Milne had a number of previous convictions for assault, resisting arrest and driving offences. He was remanded in custody and his sentencing is scheduled for April 10.
“It will be obvious to you that these are very serious offenses which have caused harm and distress to Kimberly’s grieving family,” Judge Lady Drummond said, addressing Milne.
The case marks the first prosecution of its kind in Scotland. There has only been one conviction in England, after stalker Nicholas Allen pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of his ex-partner Justene Reece in 2017.
