A convicted sex offender is back behind bars for carrying out a brutal assault in Perth Prison the day before he was due to be released.
Liam Russell admitted the attack on “bullying” inmate Duncan McLaren at the jail’s C-Hall in March.
Perth Sheriff Court head how other prisoners piled on as Russell pinned his victim against the wall of his cell and delivered blow after blow.
The 27-year-old from Fife, previously jailed for a string of sex offences, confessed to guards investigating the attack – despite being just 24 hours from liberty.
Other prisoners assisted
Fiscal depute Duncan McKenzie said: “At the time of the offence, the accused was serving a sentence at HMP Perth with one day remaining prior to his release.
“This locus in this case is cell 15 in C-Hall.
“Duncan McLaren is one of the occupants of the cell and had been residing there for about a week.
“However, during that time cellmate Robert Gillies accused Mr McLaren of bullying him.”
McLaren later claimed it was Gillies who was the bully.
“At about 5.10pm, Mr McLaren made his way back to his cell at locking up time.
“As he entered his cell, the accused – who resided in the cell next door – came in and closed the door behind him.
“The accused then began punching Mr McLaren to the head.
“Mr McLaren was pinned against the wall and threw a few punches at the accused in an attempt to defend himself.”
Other inmates entered and joined in the assault on McLaren, leaving him bloodied and requiring stitches to an ear wound.
A breach of prison rules
Russell admitted the March 3 2024 assault.
Solicitor Ian Loach said his client had been remanded since the offence.
Russell was friends with Mr Gillies, who had told him his concerns about his cellmate, he said.
“Mr Russell had gone to speak to Mr McLaren and try to persuade him to cease his behaviour.
“He was trying to defend his friend but there was an argument, which led to this assault.”
Sheriff Jennifer Bain KC told Russell: “I also note that you have a previous conviction for breaching prison rules by having some sort of mobile device.
“It is important that these rules are followed for the safety of other prisoners and prison officers alike.
“Your behaviour caused a breach to that order and also caused a fellow prisoner to sustain injury.”
The sheriff sentenced Russell to eight months behind bars.
Criminal history
When he was aged 18, Russell groomed a 15-year-old girl online and travelled 150 miles to meet her at her Ross-shire school.
He took the girl to the school bike sheds and fondled her before she went into class.
Then living in Dunfermline, Russell was jailed after he admitted three sex offences involving two teenage girls at Inverness Sheriff Court.
In 2015, a court heard Russell posted an indecent video to a social networking site on February 27 of that year showing a woman performing a sex act.
He also posted a message that the woman in the video was a 16-year-old girl he knew, causing distress to the teenager and her mother.
Russell also admitted travelling to Ross-shire on March 18, while on bail, with the intention of engaging in sexual activity with a teenager and groping her in the school grounds.
In 2022, he was jailed again for breaching terms of his Sexual Offences Prevention Order.
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