‘It was attempted murder’ - Angler says thug told him 'I’m going to drown you’ as he twice threw him in sea over dog row

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Angler Steven Raeburn wants to know why Anthony Kearney was not charged with attempted murder over the attack at the breakwater at Granton Harbour in July 2019.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard on Tuesday that Kearney, 56, grabbed hold of Mr Raeburn by the shirt and launched him over rocks into the choppy waters of the Firth of Forth. He believed Mr Raeburn had kicked his Golden Retriever and reacted violently.

The fisherman denied kicking the dog and said he was just stopping the animal from raiding his bag of fish.

Mr Raeburn insists that he merely used his leg to brush the dog away from the bag – and says he had caught any fish for the dog to be sniffing out.

Sheriff Frank Crowe said the attack was a “totally disproportionate reaction” and sentenced Kearney to pay Mr Raeburn £1,000 in compensation after he admitted the assault.

But following sentencing Mr Raeburn told the Edinburgh Evening News: "I want to know why this thug was not charged with attempted murder because that is what it was - he wanted me dead. I can understand a heat of the moment thing but he put me in the water twice.

"The first time he was raging and shouting but the second time he and his friend were walking away and were shocked when I pulled myself out. You could see the astonishment in their eyes. They could not believe I was out.

"He came up to me and repeatedly shouted 'I'm going to drown you' before hoisting me up and putting me into the water head first. That showed intent. It was attempted murder – there’s no arguing against that.

"I just cannot understand the charge and his so-called punishment is to pay me £1,000 in compensation. My phone is on a £28 a month contract and was kept by the police for 20 months so the so-called compensation is an insult.”

Mr Raeburn continued: "This has changed my life. I'm not sleeping. I know he wanted me dead. One of them had taken time to take off their jacket and fold it neatly before i was put in the water the first time. They were picking up the jacket when I appeared again and they just went for me a second time. That's not heat of the moment.

"Kearney was reeling off names of gangsters and criminals he knew from prison and saying that he was not afraid to go to jail. He knew what he was doing. The man is just a thug..

"This is not justice. I do not know how I survived the first time but the second my head hit something solid. I could have been knocked out and drowned and I just cannot accept his so-called punishment. He basically got away with it.”

Criminal past

Anthony Kearney was tracked down near Alicante, Spain, in 2008 following a Crimestoppers appeal which featured him and his partner, Donna McCafferty, on Britain’s ‘most wanted’ list. The list also published various false names they were suspected of using.

They went on the run after a money laundering investigation was launched against them in 2004 but were snared by the authorities following a tip-off.

The couple admitted benefit fraud by claiming housing benefit when they had more than £330,000 in offshore accounts. In January 2010 at Glasgow Sheriff Court, Kearney was jailed for two years and three months and McCafferty was given 250 hours community service.

Kearney also claimed almost £23,000 in income support and pocketed more than £10,000 from credit card frauds.

In 2014, Kearney was the criminal with the biggest unpaid proceeds of crime bill at just under £900,000.

The Edinburgh Evening News also reported in May how McCafferty had in recent years been illegally subletting a number of properties in Edinburgh on Airbnb while using a known alias, Louise Hanscombe.

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