Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Family of murdered man hit out at killer’s actions
THE family of a murdered Dundee man have branded his killer “disgusting” after he was found to have used a mobile phone to post photos of himself on social media.
Matthew Pope, who is serving a life sentence at Perth Prison, was given a further six-month jail term this week for possessing a phone charger in his cell.
Pope, 25, murdered Michael Given at Elders Court, Lochee, in 2013.
Photos had emerged on Facebook a year ago featuring Pope with fellow killer John Cassidy — who was jailed in 2012 for the culpable homicide of Alexander McLennan.
The images had been posted on Facebook under the name “Johnny Ootsoon” and one had the word “party” superimposed across it.
Today, Mr Given’s family told of the impact his death continued to have on them — and how prison authorities should have ensured Pope was unable to post such material from his prison cell.
His sister, Nikki, told the Tele she wanted to have her say because of the effect Pope’s behaviour was having on her and her relatives.
She said: “I feel like the prison service is an absolute joke when an evil murderer can get a phone in the prison where he’s meant to be punished for his actions.
“Also, seeing his pictures with ‘party’ all over Facebook is absolutely disgusting, especially when being sent from random names.
“He has no remorse whatsoever and him doing things wrong means we have to read about what he did to my brother.”
Nikki — who is preparing to mark the four-year anniversary of her brother’s death on Friday — said her family were still forced to live with Pope’s actions “every day”, adding: “The scumbag deserves everything he gets.
“All of this publicity is just making him feel important when he’s a nobody who will amount to nothing.”
In a hearing at Perth Sheriff Court, defence solicitor Ann Duffy — representing Pope in the case over the phone charger — said his earliest release date was 2032.
She said Pope shared his prison cell with another inmate and claimed it was the latter who had “concealed the phone”.
Both inmates denied that the phone belonged to them.
A spokeswoman for the Scottish Prison Service said: “The possession of a mobile phone in prison is a criminal offence.
“If we receive information to suggest that prisoners are in possession of such devices we will take all appropriate action and report it to the relevant authorities.”