Murderer in boiling water prison cell revenge attack
Killer admits emptying scalding kettle over victim
A NOTORIOUS killer has admitted throwing boiling water over a man who murdered his friend in a brutal revenge attack in jail.
James Wright, 27, caged for the slaying of Craig McClelland in Paisley, was left livid when David Collins was put in the cell next to his in tough HMP Shotts, Lanarkshire.
Collins had been jailed for murdering a close friend of Wright and dismembering his body.
Wright had sworn revenge on Collins for the murder of Kevin Bishop, 22.
A court was told the murderer said following the attack: “You killed my pal, you can’t live next door to me and I’m expected not to do anything.” Wright, who is serving a minimum of 20 years for the killing of 31-year-old student Craig, hatched a plot for a brazen attack that saw him empty a boiling kettle over Collins.
Collins was rushed to hospital and treated for burns and blistering. Wright appeared at Hamilton Sheriff Court on Friday and admitted the assault at HMP Shotts in November last year.
An allegation that there had been sugar in the water was deleted from the charge by prosecutors.
Wright, whose earliest release date is September 2037, was handed a 20-month term by Sheriff Thomas Millar, to run alongside his current sentence.
The sheriff said the imposition would be taken into account when Wright made an application for release to the Parole Board.
Collins was caged for a minimum of 26 years, reduced to 22 on appeal, after dismembering and beheading Kevin in a savage attack with a machete at a Paisley flat in 2018.
The victim’s torso was found dumped in a wheelie bin outside the property.
Collins had previously killed his father, also David, in an attack with a sword.