A man has appeared in court charged with attempted murder after a woman was found seriously hurt just yards from her home.
Jon Craig appeared in private at Elgin Sheriff Court yesterday, accused of assault to severe injury, permanent impairment, danger to life and attempted murder.
The 55-year-old, of Elgin, is also facing three charges of vandalism and a further one of behavingin a threatening or abusive manner.
He made no plea or declaration during the brief hearing, and the case was continued for further examination. He was remanded in custody in the meantime.
Craig’s appearance comes more than a month after a 40-year-old woman was discovered lying on Woodside Terrace with blood pouring from her head.
Neighbours found her slumped in the street, and she was raced to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, where she is still being treated.
It is understood the woman, thought to be from Poland, was on her way to catch a bus to work at about 5am when she was attacked on October 26.
The incident prompted extensive investigations from police, which resulted in divers being sent to the River Lossie to search for clues.
Last night, Elgin City North councillor Paula Coy praised the work of investigators that carried out inquiries.
She said: “It sounds like a tremendous amount of effort has been put into this by the police, which is really excellent to see.
“You can only imagine the effect of having something like this happen in your community, especially with the dark nights and mornings at this time of year.
“We’re very fortunate that things like this are very rare in Elgin.”
During the investigation, Detective Inspector Norman Stevenson described the case as “extremely complex”.
In their search for clues, officers stopped 40 motorists at the scene exactly one week after the incident in an effort to find witnesses.
The investigations were hampered by police being unable to speak to the woman as she continued her recovery in Aberdeen.