The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Solitary death in cell of World’s End murderer
World’s End killer Angus Sinclair died alone in his cell, incontinent and bedbound, in one of Scotland’s toughest jails, a court was told yesterday.
Sinclair, 73, of whom a sentencing judge said the description “monster” was inadequate, had suffered from deteriorating health for about a year and a half prior to his death last year following a series of strokes and transient ischaemic attacks, an inquiry at Stirling Sheriff Court heard.
Karon Rollo, depute fiscal at the Scottish Fatalities Investigation Unit, said the fatal accident inquiry was a mandatory one because Sinclair had died at Glenochil Prison, Clackmannanshire.
She told the court: “At the time of his death, Angus Sinclair was lawfully detained in custody serving sentences of life imprisonment in respect of charges of rape and murder imposed in 1982, 2001 and 2014.”
She said that for a year before he died, Sinclair had required “assistance with personal hygiene and dressing”.
She said: “He had an increased frequency of falls, decreased dietary and fluid intake, increased episodes of incontinence, and a DNA CPR (do not attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation notice) was in place.”
For the last five days of his life he was “unable to mobilise”, was confined to bed, and was cared for by prison medical and nursing staff. Ms Rollo said: “Cause of death was certified as bronchopneumonia, ischaemic heart disease and cerebrovascular disease.”
Sinclair had been sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 37 years for the murder of Christine Eadie and Helen Scott, both 17, in Edinburgh in 1977.
His victims were last seen alive leaving the World’s End pub in Edinburgh’s Old Town.
The sentence, in 2014, the longest ever imposed by a Scottish court, meant Sinclair would have been 106 years old before he was eligible for parole.
He was convicted of four killings, including the World’s End murders, but was suspected of killing four more women in Glasgow the same year.