Former MSP Bill Walker said he was “glad to be home” fter serving just half of his 12-month jail sentence for a string of domestic abuse offences.
The 71-year-old ex SNP politician from Bogside, near Alloa, was discharged from Dumfries Prison at 8.10am under automatic early release rules.
He was found guilty at Edinburgh High Court in August last year of 23 assaults and a breach of the peace.
He assaulted his second wife, Anne Gruber, 15 times between 1978 and 1984 by punching, slapping, kicking and pushingher to the ground on various occasions and leapt into her home brandishing an air rifle.
Walker was further found guilty of assaulting and injuring Mrs Gruber’s 16-year-old daughter, Anne Louise Paterson, and of four assaults on his third wife, Diana Walker, between June 1988 and January 1995.
Walker was expelled from the SNP party after the allegations came to light in March 2012, however he served for some time as an independent MSP.
Despite his conviction, Walker, who has always protested his innocence, refused to give up his Dunfermline seat until 16 days after the verdict.
Now Walker plans to appeal against his conviction and has a court hearing scheduled for next month.
A tired and frail-looking Walker refused to be interviewed when The Courier approached him at his house, stating only: “I am just glad to be home. That’s all I want to say.”