A convicted murderer who claimed he had a £10,000 bounty on his head survived being stabbed 13 times, a court heard.
Robert Letham is serving life for the “cold blooded” and “senseless” killing of 20-year-old Steven Russell in Glasgow’s Possilpark in February 2017.
He was moved to Perth Prison after he was victim of a brutal assault at HMP Shotts.
The attack was revealed when Letham, 39, appeared at Perth Sheriff Court and pled guilty to having an illicit SIM card on December 31 2022.
The court heard Letham was searched by staff after he was spotted passing something to another inmate through an internal gate.
An illegal SIM was found inside his prison-issue mobile phone.
His lawyer confirmed Letham was moved to Perth as a direct result of the assault and his client used the SIM to keep in touch with family and his legal representatives.
Due for release in 2039, he was sentenced to a concurrent 23 weeks.
In 2021, Letham appeared at Hamilton Sheriff Court and admitted having a weapon at HMP Shotts.
The court heard he had been told of a credible threat on his life and that there was a bounty of £10,000 on his head.
‘Dundee’s hottest’
A teenage ram-raider who went on a wrecking spree in a stolen SUV has been locked up. Jayden Robertson, 19, was part of a gang which targeted garages, shops and private homes throughout Dundee and Angus in June 2022. The vehicle was later found abandoned in a Dundee park, with the words ‘Dundee’s hottest’ scratched into it.
‘Odious individual’
A 37-year-old Fife man who admitted abducting and assaulting his ex-partner has been given the maximum amount of unpaid work.
Ricky Jackson, 37, of High Street, Lochgelly, appeared at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court for sentencing.
In referencing the Robert Louis Stevenson classic novella The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Sheriff Niven-Smith said Jackson “seemed to be an odious individual, enraged by jealousy and suspicion and paranoia of ex partners”.
On July 3 2022 he shouted and swore at a woman, demanded she entered a car, refused to return her phone, repeatedly seized her by the hair and body and prevented her from exiting the car.
Jackson demanded to know what was on her phone, threatened to throw it away if she did not get back into the car, struggled with her, threatened to kill himself, and searched through the contents of her phone.
Court papers say the offending took place in Dunfermline on Carnegie Drive, Pilmuir Street and Halbeath Park & Ride, on a road between Burntisland and Kirkcaldy and elsewhere in Fife.
Jackson pled guilty to the charge in the presence of a jury.
Summarising from the woman’s evidence, Sheriff Timothy Niven-Smith said she was on a work night out and Jackson made abusive calls and texts, ordering her to leave the pub.
He compared the accused to the father of a teenager who had snuck out to the pub.
He said: “You treated her as if your property and ordered her about”.
The “sustained court of conduct” continued on a car journey.
The sheriff handed Jackson 300 hours of unpaid work and placed him on offender supervision for two years.
A conduct requirement was also made for him to inform his supervising officer of any new intimate relationships.
Back behind bars
A Fife paedophile jailed for downloading some of the most horrific images seen by prosecutors is back behind bars. Twisted Aiden Strawn, 29, has been jailed again after police ran a search through his seedy activity in adult chat rooms.
Assault, drugs and weapons charges
A pair of men from Perth appeared in private on drugs and weapons charges.
Declan McKay, 20, was accused of assault to injury, weapon possession, being concerned in supplying a controlled drug and drugs possession.
Darren McMillan, 21, was charged with assault to injury and weapon possession.
Neither accused made any plea and both were committed for further examination.
McKay was remanded in custody and McMillan released on bail.
The appearance comes after police said they were called to South Methven Street, Perth at on Friday April 26 and a 25-year-old man was taken to hospital for treatment.
They said three properties in the city were searched and drugs and weapons found..
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