Scottish dad who killed his own children in 'revenge plot' against wife denied parole

Edinburgh Live

06-07-2025

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Killer Rab Thomson, who killed his own to children in their family home after his marriage broke down, has been denied parole.
The sick dad stabbed his disabled daughter Michelle, who was 25-years-old at the time, and his seven-year-old son Ryan, to death. The 67-year-old was sentenced to 17 years in prison for the crimes, which he committed in 2008.
His former wife, June, plead with the parole board to deny him his freedom. Her calls were echoed by others in the community, with MP for Glenrothes and Mid Fife Richard Baker now confirming he has not been given parole after writing to the authorities.
He said: "Rab Thomson, who killed his son, seven, and disabled daughter in Buckhaven in 2008, has been denied parole.
"My wife, Claire Baker MSP and I, who wrote to the board seeking this outcome, welcome the decision. I'm sure many people in Levenmouth will feel the same."
Thomson is believed to have murdered his children out of cruel revenge on his estranged wife June who left him after 27-years of beatings and rape. In his first official access visit, after June finally plucked up the courage to leave him, he stabbed Ryan 14 times as the little boy played a computer game at the family home in Buckhaven, Fife, on May 3, 2008.
He then turned the knife on Michelle, stabbing her 12 times as she fought for her life, leaving her bedroom like a bloodbath. After murdering his children, Thomson placed each child in bed and posed their bodies like little angels for his wife to find.
Detective Inspector Graham Fenton, one of the detectives in charge of the investigation, said the killer traumatised his family for years. He previously said: "June had been the victim of emotional, physical and sexual abuse.
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"None of this was reported to the police, however many victims of domestic violence often suffer in silence."
He added: "When Thomson came into our custody, he was very matter of fact.
"He showed no remorse. In fact, he never asked for his children once. At one stage during the interview, he even refused to sit on the chair in the room. He actually lay on the floor. It appeared to me that this was Thomson trying to exert control over a situation that wasn't his."
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Last year, a documentary called Britain's Darkest Taboos, that covered the murders showed how Thomson exerted control over his terrified family. Dr Keri Nixon, a leading criminologist told if how Thomson cracked because his image as the perfect family man was destroyed by his split from his wife June.
In film, taken at Christmas 2002 when youngest victim Ryan was not yet two, Thomson's wife June, 54, is heard begging her husband to stop filming but he persists. Dr Nixon said: "He wanted to present a perfect life to the outside world.
"He liked to be respected, he liked to be admired. His wife leaving him was not part of that image. Because he was losing everything, his way of dealing with it was to destroy it."