• 20 hours ago
• Posted in:Assault/Wounding, Driving Offences, Misc. non-violent offences, Stalking/harrassment/threats, Violent Offences
• 0
• Author: melodie
• Tags: Brain injury, Convicted 2011, Convicted 2025, Elderly victim, Extreme violence, HMP Perth, Male victim, Offended 2011, Offended 2025, Perth & Kinross, Police /courts using defendant pronouns, Police Scotland, Scotland, Trans woman

Silhouette image via Wikimedia Commons

Donald Gunn Sandilands (aka Donna Sandilands), a violent male who identifies as a transgender woman, was convicted at the High Court in Edinburgh in July 2025 of assault to severe injury, permanent impairment, permanent disfigurement and danger of life. 

The court heard that following a dispute about the sale of a tractor, Sandilands drove through the gate of the 80-year old victim, Mr Alexander McTavish’s garden gate and wielded a chainsaw at the pensioner, demanding money or he would be killed. Mr McTavish went back into his living room but left the glass doors partially open to try to talk to Sandilands. Sandilands, aged 47 and from Kinross, then put the chainsaw through the gap, broke the door glass panels and assaulted the victim, only stopping when a firearms officer drew his Taser. Injuries were caused to the victim’s hip and the tendons were severed in two of his fingers, resulting in permanent scarring and impairment.

The defendant was originally charged with attempted murder and was permitted to appear in private at at Perth Sheriff Court when charged in February 2025. The Daily Express noted that initial coverage in The Courier named Donald Sandilands as a man and reported he had been remanded to HMP Perth, a men’s prison. However by July, Sandilands was being referred to as Donna Sandilands and with female pronouns – the Daily Mail notes he appeared as both Donald and Donna on court papers.

In common with a number of other trans-identified male violent/sexual offenders, no custody photograph of Sandilands was provided by the police. See further examples here

At the High Court in Dundee in August 2025, Sandilands was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment. A non-harassment order preventing him contacting the victim or his partner by any means for an indefinite period. Sandilands apparently has one previous conviction for a road traffic offence from 2011 and suffered brain damage after being struck by a tree in 2015 when working as a lumberjack.

The judge, Lord Ericht’s, sentencing statements can be read here: https://judiciary.scot/home/sentences-judgments/sentences-and-opinions/2025/08/27/hma-v-donald-gunn-sandilands-also-known-as-donna-sandilands

Media reports

Daily Mail https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15040151/Headline-goes-here.html  archive

BBC Man, 80, attacked with chainsaw in row over tractor sale https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm21zxn1z47o  archive

Scottish Daily Express https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/news/politics/crown-office-in-thrall-snps-35646953  archive

The Courier https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/courts/5319895/donna-sandilands-jail-lumberjack-kinross-oap-chainsaw/

The Courier https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/courts/5290530/chainsaw-intruder-kill-threat-kinross-tractor/