The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Ex-inmate who struck prison guard spared another term in jail
A former inmate who bloodied a prison guard after punching him has been spared another jail term.
Wayne Martin, 24, was serving a two-year stint at HMP Perth when he attacked Steven Alston on February 6, 2020.
Martin had been jailed at Dundee Sheriff Court for trying to rob a 17-yearold girl and a 66-year-old man in Arbroath in 2019.
Martin, who was released in April 2020, is now banned from leaving his home at night and must perform unpaid work after he admitted attacking Mr Alston.
The court was previously told how Martin became enraged after he was placed on an order preventing him from leaving his cell.
Fiscal depute Lynne Mannion said: “The accused was in his cell along with another prisoner.
“The complainer opened the door to allow prisoners out for a meal.
“He told the accused that his cellmate would be allowed out to collect his food for him.
“The accused said he wasn’t subject to the order.
“He gritted his teeth and very quickly punched Mr Alston on the face, causing him to stumble backwards.”
Martin’s cellmate intervened and Mr Alston managed to close the door. He left a trail of blood that led to the staff office.
He was taken to Perth Royal Infirmary for treatment to a cut under his eye and bruising which did not leave permanent scarring.
Defence solicitor Billy Rennie previously said Martin, of Grimsby Place, Arbroath, was in care from the age of 11 until he was 18, and had not been in trouble since being released in April 2020.
Mr Rennie said: “He is perhaps on the cusp of changing his lifestyle.
“He’s leading a fairly isolated life. There’s a lot of progress being made in this young man. However, he’s under no illusions that there’s a strong possibility that he could be going back to custody.”
Sheriff Lorna Drummond QC placed him on supervision for 24 months as well as ordering him to perform 220 hours of unpaid work.
Martin was also made subject to a restriction of liberty order for three months which will keep him indoors between 7pm and 7am.
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Angus councillors will pave the way for Tay Cities Deal project funding to be accelerated this week. A full Angus Council tomorrow will see councillors discuss three projects – the Mercury drone scheme, the Centre of Agri Tech and Sustainable Innovation (Casi), and rural digital broadband – and approve funding being fast-tracked.
Councillors have been asked to agree funding from “another source” while the Tay Cities Deal cash is delivered to let work on the projects begin.
The much-delayed Tay Cities Deal was finally signed in December, a year later than originally hoped.
Angus Council recently put aside £6 million from this year’s budget and officers recommend using some of that pot to plug the gap created by the delay. The broadband project will get £307,000, the Mercury drone project £300,000 and Casi £175,000 if councillors give approval.
A report to go before councillors this week highlights there is a risk the local authority will not be able to claw back the money if full business cases for the projects are not accepted by Holyrood and Westminster.
However, the risk of this has been assessed as low.
The projects have been prepared under Angus Council’s umbrella Mercury Programme. The hope is to boost green energy to “protect places for future generations”.
Many of the Tay Cities Deal projects in Angus have been agreed with this goal in mind.
One of the first identified to help was the Drone project in Montrose. It is hoped it could help offshore wind developments.
The town was chosen due to its quiet airspace.
Casi could see Angus become an “area of research excellence”, according to
the report with farming innovations developed to help curb greenhouse gases which are associated with the agricultural sector.
An HQ for the operation is planned for Forfar.
The digital broadband scheme could help those in rural Angus experience faster internet connection speeds, something that has blighted the region.
The crux of the issue
centred on the UK Government wanting to deliver the money over a 15year period, as opposed to the Scottish Government’s desire to do it in 10 years.
Fears arose this would jeopardise projects. Westminster agreed to pay its share within a decade.
Other delays were created by the 2019 general election and the coronavirus pandemic.