Killer Callum Davidson, jailed for the brutal murder of Arbroath oil worker Steven Donaldson, won’t serve extra time in jail after being caught with prison contraband for a third time.
The 29-year-old was jailed for life for the 2018 Kinnordy killing that sent shockwaves through the community.
Davidson and accomplice Steven Dickie savagely attacked Mr Donaldson after he was lured to a playpark by his ex-girlfriend Tasmin Glass.
Both men were jailed for life, while Glass was controversially released earlier this summer having served just half of her 10-year sentence for culpable homicide.
Davidson returned to Perth Sheriff Court via video link from the city’s jail this week and admitted having breaking strict prison phone rules for a third time.
He pled guilty to having an illicit SIM card in his cell on March 26.
Davidson was handed a further prison sentence, but it will run alongside his current jail term and won’t affect his parole date in 2042.
No extra time
Fiscal depute Stuart Hamilton said that the device was found tucked inside Davidson’s pyjama bottoms during a routine search.
Solicitor Bethany Downham, defending, said: “Mr Davidson was in possession of this SIM card to contact his family.
“He accepts he should not have had it, he accepts the consequences and he apologies to the court.
“He is currently serving a life sentence and is not eligible for release until 2042.
“I would invite the court to give him a minimum concurrent sentence.”
Sheriff Clair McLachlan told Davidson: “Given the circumstances, I will impose a custodial sentence of 80 days, discounted from four months.
“That will commence from today’s date and run concurrent with your existing sentence.”
The latest find follows a near identical offence from January 28, when he was caught with an unauthorised SIM and mobile phone.
At a court hearing in July, Sheriff Alison McKay noted that Davidson had an even earlier conviction for having a phone device in prison but “doesn’t seem to have taken note.”
“The reason for these rules is to enable the smooth running of the establishment,” she told him.
The sheriff added a further four months to his sentence.
Victim was cut down ‘without mercy’
Jailing Davidson in 2019, judge Lord Pentland said he and Dickie had used “extreme violence,” which had been “sustained and prolonged.”
He said: “You cut him down without mercy.
“I do not accept that you demonstrate genuine insight and empathy. You show callous disregard for Mr Donaldson’s family.”
Dickie died behind bars in June 2018.
Glass was released following a parole hearing in July this year.
Mr Donaldson’s family said they were “angry but not surprised” by the decision.
The Courier’s A Voice for Victims Campaign aims at ensuring Glass and other violent prisoners should serve their full sentence imposed by the courts.
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