Eve Graham, 68, from Nairn, who endured nearly 50 years of domestic abuse at the hands of her husband, musician William McDonald, 76, has spoken of her horror after he was released from jail having served just one year of a two-year sentence.
McDonald was jailed in 2025 after a jury at Inverness High Court found him guilty of assault to the danger of Eve's life, serious assault, and threatening behaviour charges between 1975 and 2022. He was found not guilty of sexual assault charges and was released in June this year.
Life sentence vs one year
Eve, a sculptor, said she no longer lives in fear of him as a “pathetic old man” but is angry at the prospect of bumping into him so soon after she finally got justice.
“I feel let down as I’ve got a life sentence and he only got one year,” she said. “My psychologist said because of the length of time I was a victim, he thinks I will never fully recover and that I’ll just learn to live with it.”
She added: “I still have flashbacks, irregular sleep patterns, nightmares, fine socialising difficult and am often tearful. What signal does that send to perpetrators? I don’t think we’ve progressed much since the slap on the wrist he received in the 70s and 80s.”
Decades of abuse
The abuse began soon after they met when Eve was 17 and he was 26, and they married in May 1975. She described being kicked onto a concrete floor after returning from a pub, and later being dragged by her hair and pushed into a bathroom, leaving a pile of her hair on the floor.
In 1981, after another son was born, she said she was thrown onto a chair and had her head banged against it. In 1987, she was pushed off a pier at Nairn Harbour, nearly drowning in front of her children. She said police were called on several occasions but no charges were brought at the time.
Breaking point and recovery
In October 2020, after 47 years of violence, a severe assault became the breaking point. He threw a tea towel over her head and bit her nose, leaving a scar and cracked teeth. She contacted police in August 2022, and he was charged and found guilty.
Eve now lives in the cottage she once shared with him, where she welds and sells metal sculptures. She suffers from PTSD but uses her experience to help other survivors. She said: “He would tell me that nobody would believe me. But I won. He was charged. It did go to court. He was found guilty. He was sent to jail. Albeit for just a year - but I got to keep my home.”
She advises others to speak to someone, keep a hidden diary of assaults, and take pictures of injuries to send to someone they trust. She added: “I would encourage anyone in a violent or abusive relationship to ‘get out’. They will not change things. It may be okay for weeks, months, even years - but in my experience, once a wifebeater, always a wifebeater.”
