SENTENCING STATEMENTS

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HMA v John Peter Martin McNamara

Jul 15, 2026

At the High Court in Glasgow Lord Arthurson sentenced John Peter Martin McNamara to life imprisonment with a punishment part of 17 years after the offender was convicted of murder.

On sentencing Lord Arthurson made the following remarks in court:

"John Peter Martin McNamara, you have today been convicted by a jury of the brutal murder of Mr James Donaldson, who died at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Glasgow, on 29 May 2020. You had, in the hallway of his own home at Peel View, Clydebank, on the afternoon of 12 October 2019, assaulted him, and, as he lay on his back on the floor, repeatedly jumped and stamped on his face and body, rendering him unconscious.

Mr Donaldson was taken by ambulance to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, where he was on examination found to have sustained injuries which included bruising to the face, a fractured cheekbone, a traumatic brain injury and four rib fractures. He was on 16 April 2020 transferred to a care home in Clydebank where he later contracted COVID 19. He was accordingly on 29 May 2020 transferred back to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital where he was pronounced dead that day at 1522 hours.

In reaching its verdict the jury has rejected your contention that you are not responsible for your victim’s death, due to the intervention of the contraction by him of COVID 19 while he was in the care home. The Crown cause of death expert, a highly experienced consultant forensic pathologist, was clear in her evidence that while that was indeed the primary cause of death, the injuries sustained by him in your attack upon him and his resultant disability were very significant contributory factors resulting in his death.

Mr Donaldson was aged 49 at his date of death. He left behind a bereaved family, including in particular his elderly mother and his wider family. Your criminal conduct on 12 October 2019 has deprived them of Mr Donaldson’s presence in their lives, and nothing that this court can do or say can even begin to alleviate the enduring grief and pain which has been, and will continue to be, experienced by them.

You are now aged 54. You have to date accrued some eight groups of previous convictions, notably a High Court conviction in 2020 for the crime of assault to severe injury, permanent disfigurement, permanent impairment and danger of life and attempted murder which arose in respect of the same attack upon Mr Donaldson on 12 October 2019 which features in the present indictment and in respect of which this court requires to sentence you today. Having pled guilty at a preliminary hearing, you received an extended sentence of 9 years in respect of that 2020 conviction, with a 6 year custodial part and a 3 year extension period. For completeness, I further note that you were convicted in 1993 on a sheriff and jury indictment of assault and robbery, receiving a sentence of 2 years imprisonment; that in 1996 in the High Court you were convicted of what is described on your record as serious assault, receiving a sentence of 5 years imprisonment; and that in 2010 on another sheriff and jury indictment you were convicted of being concerned in the supply of heroin, receiving a sentence of 28 months imprisonment.

I have listened carefully to the submissions advanced by your senior counsel in mitigation following upon the jury’s verdict, and take into account in particular what has been said by him regarding your early acceptance of guilt in earlier proceedings in respect of your murderous attack upon Mr Donaldson.

The sentence for the crime of murder is fixed by law. It is one of imprisonment for life. The court requires in the course of the sentencing exercise in such cases to select a period which is known as the punishment part of that fixed disposal. The punishment part is the number of years which you must serve before you can be considered for release on life licence. When the court sets this tariff it is not in any sense appointing the time when you will be released. Instead, the court is determining the number of years which must be served by you before you can actually apply for release. The punishment part does not take into account the need for public protection. That matter is taken into account by the Parole Board for Scotland if and when any application is made by you in due course for your release. The punishment part does, however, take into account the twin sentencing requirements of retribution and deterrence.

In selecting an appropriate punishment part in your case, I take into account principally the gravity of the crime of murder of which you now stand convicted. The attack by you upon Mr Donaldson involved repeated jumping and stamping on his face and body. The medical sequelae of that conduct included the sustaining by him of a catastrophic brain injury.

Turning to disposal, I will now grant the motion made at the bar by your senior counsel to quash the said 2020 conviction in terms of section 11(5) of the Double Jeopardy (Scotland) Act 2011.

The court will duly take into account the period spent by you to date in custody in respect of that 2020 conviction by fully backdating the sentence to be imposed in respect of the present indictment following your conviction by the jury today.

In the whole circumstances, therefore, I now on this indictment pass upon you the mandatory sentence of imprisonment for life. I fix the punishment part of that disposal at a period of 17 years. Standing the unusual procedural background to this case, I confirm that this sentence will be backdated to 14 October 2019, for the reasons already expressed."

15 July 2026