The father of a woman who was attacked with an axe by her ex-boyfriend has condemned the SNP’s ‘soft touch justice’ system for failing victims of crime.

Rosie Gittings was assaulted by Joshua Sutherland in 2021, causing severe injury and a risk to her life, while a student of theoretical physics at St Andrews University.

She moved to Canada last autumn, one month before her attacker was released after serving less than four years in jail for the attack.

He had been charged with attempted murder but pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of assault.

Mr Gittings, 56, who lives in Muir of Ord, Easter Ross, was heavily critical of the justice system for the trauma caused to his daughter, now aged 24, other family members and himself.

He said: ‘I’ve been to hell and back. All I want to do is get on with my life, but the SNP’s soft touch approach is failing the victims of crime.

‘The trauma of the attack on my daughter has been difficult enough to deal with, but the lack of mental health support available has been atrocious.

‘Scotland’s health and justice system are both in complete disarray, and it is those who need help the most who are being the worst let down.

‘The pathetic, weak approach taken by the SNP must end.’

In the 2021 attack, Sutherland showed up at the home of Ms Gittings, while high on drugs and armed with a weapon, and launched a brutal attack.

When he was caught by police, he boasted: ‘I hit her in the head. She should be f****** dead. I should have chopped her up.’

Sutherland was sentenced to four years and four months, backdated to when he was taken into custody.

Gwyn Gittings said: ‘I don’t actually know where he is. I don’t want to know. I don’t want to know what I’ll do if I bump into him in the street.

‘As it stands, he has more rights than I do.’

Ms Gittings graduated with a masters in theoretical physics last autumn and has secured a job in Canada.

Her father praised her achievements ‘after all she’s been through’, and said: ‘You’ve got one of Britain’s, or definitely Scotland’s, greatest graduates forced out of living here with an axe-wielding psycho walking about, forced to Canada where she is paying their top rate of tax.’

He said that ‘it burns in me’ that Sutherland only served less than four years for the crime.

Mr Gittings said her daughter was contacted weeks after Sutherland was sentenced for a statement for a parole hearing, and subsequently had to give a further three statements.

He said: ‘The first one was just before Christmas, while she had exams, and I remember ringing her up and asked her about exams, and she smashed it again, and then she said “oh and the other thing is he didn’t get out”. 

'I said that’s good but I put down the phone and blubbed for the rest of the afternoon, probably out of relief but just that they had done that to her, put her through that.

‘We had four paroles and eventually he got let out a month after she left for Canada.’

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said: ‘It is an absolute disgrace that victims of serious crime are being let down by this dismal SNP government.

‘When people commit despicable crimes, they should face the full extent of the law. It is not good enough to take a light touch approach to criminal justice.

‘I have been clear that a Scottish Labour government led by me will fix the SNP’s mess by supporting our hardworking police officers, supporting victims of crime, and restoring our justice system.’

An SNP spokesman said: ‘This was a horrific attack and I cannot imagine how distressing this has been for both Rosie Gittings and her family.

‘While we have strengthened policing and reformed the justice system, we want to go further to improve access to justice for victims and survivors, and ensuring our prisons and courts operate effectively.

‘We will do that through record investment of £4.6 billion in the justice portfolio and we will appoint Scotland’s first Victims and Witnesses Commissioner, who will develop a Victims Charter.

‘This is a horrendous experience for any family to go through, but we are absolutely committed to making our justice system work for victims and keep our communities safe.’