Disgraced politician jailed for attacks on former wives

DISGRACED former MSP Bill Walker has been jailed for 12 months for a string of attacks against his three former wives and a stepdaughter that spanned decades.

Walker, of Alloa in Clackmannanshire, was convicted of 23 charges of domestic abuse and one breach of the peace last month after a two-week trial.

The 71-year-old, who clung to his Dunfermline seat for 16 days after the verdict, returned to Edinburgh Sheriff Court yesterday where he was sentenced by Sheriff Kathrine Mackie.

Sheriff Mackie found Walker guilty of assaulting his first wife Maureen Traquair on three separate occasions in the 1960s and 1980s. Walker was convicted of assaulting his second wife, Anne Gruber, 15 times between 1978 and 1984.

He also breached the peace by leaping into Mrs Gruber’s home brandishing an air rifle after she went out for a birthday meal with another man.

Walker was also found guilty of assaulting and injuring Mrs Gruber’s 16-year-old daughter, Anne Louise Paterson, by repeatedly striking her on the head with a saucepan in 1978.

The disgraced politician was found guilty of four assaults on his third wife Diana Walker, three of which involved slapping or punching her on the face. The attacks happened between June 1988 and January 1995.

She told the court her husband also recorded her phone calls and made her sign an agreement to do all household chores in their home.

Giving evidence, Walker claimed he was the victim of ‘’smearing’’ and that his ex-wives colluded to accuse him of domestic violence.