Domestic abuser convicted of killing wife who jumped from bridge

A man has been convicted of killing his abused wife after she jumped to her death from a motorway bridge, in the first prosecution of its kind in Scotland.

Kimberley Milne, who was 28, died after being struck by multiple vehicles on the A90 in Dundee in July 2023.

Lee Milne, 39, had denied culpable homicide and a separate charge of domestic abuse at several properties in the city.

He was found guilty following a trial at the High Court in Glasgow and will be sentenced on 10 April.

Milne had previously been on bail but was remanded in custody following his conviction.

He was convicted of engaging in a course of abusive conduct towards his wife.

Prosecutors said Kimberley had suffered significant domestic violence at the hands of Milne in the 18-months prior to her death.

A witness told the trial that she spotted a man and woman appearing to have an argument outside on the night Kimberley jumped onto the A90.

Daisy White, 25, initially thought it was a "father-daughter situation".

White then went shopping before noticing the pair again outside a flooring store at the Kingsway Retail Park in Dundee.

The witness said this time the man was "trapping" the woman against the wall.

Asked what the woman was doing, White told the court: "Cowering, scared. She did not really do much. There was not much she could do.

"It did not look like (she was responding to the man) - she was seeming too frightened."

White stated she had been "concerned" for the woman and, asked why, she replied: "It was a man making a young woman scared. It is going to be alarm bells."

Kimberley's mother told police how Milne woke her up the next morning, telling her that her daughter had "gone".

Lynne Bruce, 54, said she was told Kimberley had crashed Milne's car before he followed her on foot to a bridge.

In a statement read to jurors, the 54 year-old was said to have commented: "I did not know what he was on about. He came in the house.

"He said something along the lines of Kim had pulled the steering wheel and crashed the car.

"He then said Kim had gone up to the bridge and he had chased her.

"He tried to grab her hands and she looked up at him, shook her head before jumping off.

"He then said he lay beside her."

Asked in court about her reaction to the news, the mum replied: "Devastated."

Bruce recalled seeing injuries on Kimberley and that she was told Milne was responsible.

Bruce also told the trial her daughter had been acting "erratically" on the day of her death.

The case was the first prosecution of its kind in Scotland.

One man was previously guilty in England in 2017 of an unlawful killing following domestic controlling behaviour of his ex-girlfriend.

The trial heard that the couple got together in late 2021 and married in September 2022.

Prosecutors said Milne effectively tormented Kimberley soon into the relationship until the day of her death.

Among the list of incidents was an attack in early 2022 when Milne choked his wife.

Speaking to police before her death, she recalled: "Lee and I were in his home and he went through my phone.

"He saw messages from other men before we were together. He got angry and started to shout and swear at me."

She told police Milne had called her offensive names.

She added: "Immediately after this he put both hands around my neck and pinned me against the kitchen wall.

"After a while he swapped his hands, pressed his right forearm against my neck.

"A few seconds passed and he let go and started crying, saying how sorry he was."

Another assault occurred months later when Milne yanked Kimberley by the hair to the ground before again apologising claiming he was "not that type of guy".

In late 2022, Kimberley said she discovered her husband had allegedly been cheating on her with other women.

He was said to have got "angry" and hit Kimberley on the head causing her to fall and slip unconscious.

The victim detailed other violence including an incident witnessed by a concerned neighbour.

She later accused him of adultery again leading to Kimberley trying to barricade herself in a room.

She told police: "Lee repeatedly punched my ribs and I was begging him not to hurt me but he was not listening.

"I felt unsafe so I decided not to leave that night. I slept with a knife under my pillow as I was so frightened of him."

After the verdict, prosecutor Alex Prentice KC said relatives of Kimberley had written emotional victim impact statements for judge Lady Drummond to consider.

He added: "It is obvious the quite far-reaching effect Kimberley's death has had.

"They recognise that she had difficulties of her own, but the circumstances of the death brought great misery for 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.

Lady Drummond told him: "It will be obvious to you that these are very serious offences which have caused harm and upset to Kimberley's grieving family."