An axe murderer has been freed from prison just 11 years after being jailed for life for hacking his mother to death.
Euan Munro, 42, from Insch was sentenced to life imprisonment at the High Court in Dundee in August 2007 and was told he must serve a minimum of 11 years by Judge Lord Menzies.
He is now building a new life for himself in the Mearns following his early release.
Munro is now at liberty following a spell in the open estate although his precise whereabouts are being kept strictly private.
He will now remain on licence for the rest of his life and can immediately be recalled to prison if he was to breach the terms of his licence.
A spokesman for the Scottish Prison Service said: “I can confirm that we would normally prepare somebody for parole consideration in a variety of ways including programme intervention and testing with community access.
“Those prisoners released on parole from life sentences remain on licence for the rest of their lives and can be recalled to custody if they breach licence conditions or are involved in any further criminal behaviour.”
Munro carried out the early morning attack on Helen Turner after a night out drinking.
After the attack the dad-of-one drove away then called his sister and police, telling them, “I think I’ve killed my mother.”
When police arrived at the home where the mother and son lived together in Insch they found the 53-year-old lying in bed with the bed linen up to her neck.
The axe was still lying in the room.
Munro, who had a history of depression, pled guilty to the murder which happened on December 20 2006.
Scottish Conservative shadow justice secretary Liam Kerr has campaigned for the adoption of “Michelle’s Law” proposals.
Named for an Ayrshire teenager who was stabbed to death by her former boyfriend, these include allowing victims and their families to give evidence when parole or early release are a possibility and for decisions to be explained to them.
He said: “Although the original sentence of life imprisonment was appropriate, this man has served a short 11 years for a horrible crime.
“The victim is not here to consider whether her son has served long enough.
“So it is up to the prison service to make sure the rest of the family understand why they have made this decision, and how it will affect them.”
If a person is sentenced to life imprisonment, the judge must, by law, set a punishment part of the sentence.
This is the minimum time the person must spend in prison before they can be considered for release into the community by the Parole Board for Scotland.
Depending on the circumstances of the case, the punishment part can be lengthy.
To date, the longest punishment part given in Scotland is 37 years.
Court was told Munro had been a “peaceful member of the community”
Munro was seen in good spirits while drinking in a local bar the night before the attack.
The later attack followed an argument during which his mother reprimanded him for excessive drinking, threatened to throw him out of the house and refused to help him visit his child
Munro’s problems were blamed on a combination of “depression, alcohol abuse and relationship difficulties”.
He had been a “peaceful member of the community” until a sequence of traumatic events including the death of his stepfather.
Lord Menzies told Munro during sentencing: “You have pled guilty to the most serious crime known to our law.
“This case is a tragedy.
“It is a terrible, terrible thing to kill your own mother, particularly in the awful way this murder was committed, and that is something you will have to live with for the rest of your life.
“The crime which you committed appears to have been committed while you were under the influence of alcohol and the court must make it clear that drink is not an excuse under Scots law and it never has been.
“There is only one sentence I can impose and that is life imprisonment and accordingly I sentence you to life imprisonment.”
