Man slashed cousin's belly in Plean murder bid

Warning: This article contains details that some readers may find distressing A man who slashed his cousin's belly open with a kitchen knife in Stirlingshire has been jailed for 10 and a half years. A court heard Thomas McCallum left 44-year-old Roddy Stewart seriously injured after attacking him in the street in Plean. McCallum was told "you did not care if he lived or died" by a judge at the High Court in Stirling. The 35-year-old was found guilty of attempted murder following a four-day trial in December. The trial was told the incident happened in May 2024 in the village's Wallace Crescent. Jurors were told Stewart was attacked by McCallum after going to a woman's home. The jury heard a claim that the victim had gone there to collect money and had been "shouting something about chopping or stabbing, something to do with her children". The woman's partner, George Williamson, who has since died, was said to have gone after Stewart and struck him with a golf club. Stewart hit back with the broken neck of a Buckfast bottle, before McCallum stabbed Stewart twice, once to the stomach and once to the upper torso. Prosecutor Paul Mullen said McCallum had attacked Stewart with murderous