A man serving life for firebombing a mosque has been jailed for a further decade for launching a campaign of terror in which he slashed sex offenders in Perth Prison
Thomas Connington, 36, was given an order for lifelong restriction (OLR) in June 2017 for launching a Molotov cocktail at Edinburgh’s Central Mosque.
A court heard on Thursday he has since subjected fellow inmates at HMP Perth to a series of savage assaults.
Prosecutor Brian GIll KC said Connington targeted Gordon Simpson, Adam Fraser, Liam Russell and Sam Roan between May 2021 and June 2023.
He used a kettle containing boiling water in the attack on Simpson and a razor blade attached to a toothbrush to slash his other victims.
Mr Gill said: “The present offences consist of four assaults on different prisoners on three different days in HMP Perth.
“Each of the complainers is a registered sex offender.”
Photograph rage
Defence solicitor advocate Kris Gilmartin told the High Court in Edinburgh the assault against Fraser was committed after Connington thought a photograph of his niece had been stolen from his cell by inmates serving time for sex offences.
“He attached significant value to the photograph.
“When he was asking around as to what happened to the photograph, Mr Fraser told him that it was long gone and it was likely being used as currency by sex offenders.
“Mr Connington felt the anger build up in him and he responded by assaulting him.”
The court heard Connington assaulted Fraser on August 13 2021 by striking him on the head with the modified toothbrush.
Connington, now a prisoner of HMP Low Moss in Dunbartonshire, pled guilty to charges of serious assault.
The charge featuring Roan stated he struck him on the neck on June 23 2023 with a razor blade, placing his life in danger.
Mr Gill said prison officers “found Mr Roan in a pile on the ground with blood pouring from his neck and screaming for help.”
‘Violent, premeditated and sadistic’
On Thursday, Mr Gilmartin told the court there was “scant mitigation” for the attacks.
He said: “They have all arisen because of conflicts – or a perception of conflicts – with fellow inmates.”
Passing sentence, Judge Lord Fairley told Connington, who observed proceedings via video link, he would have received 15 years if he had not pled guilty.
He ordered the sentence be served consecutively to the terms he is currently serving.
He added: “It is quite clear that you continue to pose a risk to the public which at the present time can only be reduced by your continuing imprisonment.
“These attacks can only be seen as violent, premeditated and sadistic.”
Connington, said to have a Swastika tattoo on his chest and SS insignia on his neck, had an Order for Lifelong Restriction (OLR) imposed in 2017 after he firebombed the capital’s Central Mosque in a hate crime.
It is not the first time he has came to the attention of the authorities since he was jailed.
He slashed fellow inmate Luke Pirie on the face in Edinburgh’s Saughton Prison in August 2018 and launched an attack on African warlord Ahmed Al-Faq Almadhi in HMP Shotts, Lanarkshire.
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