Jail inmates sentenced for attack
Two inmates of Glenochil prison were this week each sentenced to five years for a brutal attack on a convicted killer in his cell.
Mark MacRae, from Alva, and Craig Robertson, both 27, admitted assaulting 30-year-old John Blake with a broken pool cue and a knife – made from two pieces of wood and a nail file with a pointed tip – to the danger of his life at the prison near Tullibody on December 10, last year.
They were originally charged with attempted murder, but the prosecution accepted their guilty pleas to a reduced charge.
The High Court in Glasgow heard that the pair, who were close to their release dates, snapped after Blake, who is serving life with a minimum sentence of 17 years for the murder of dad-of-two Sean Stark, 25, in 2009, threatened them with violence.
Defence counsel Mark Moir, representing Robertson said:“Mr Blake has a reputation as something of a bully in the prison system and issued threats to Mr Robertson. One of these was a threat to slash his throat.”
Counsel Lorraine Glancy, representing MacRae, said that her client had also been threatened by Blake.
Prosecutor Bill McVicar said:“All three were housed in Harvieston Hall, level 1 West Section at Glenochil Prison.
“Robertson knocked on Blake’s cell door, while MacRae went to his own cell and came back armed with the broken pool cue.
“Blake and Robertson were fighting and Robertson was trying to get away from him when MacRae hit Blake causing him to fall to the ground and then continued to strike him.”
The court heard that Blake was repeatedly hit by the pair as he lay on the ground.
He was repeatedly stabbed, punched and kicked on the head and body and stamped on the head.
The accused ran away when prison officers entered the hall.
Blake suffered a collapsed lung and a number of injuries to his neck, shoulder and chest. He was discharged from intensive care on December 19, last year.
Mr McVicar added:“Mr Blake was stabbed seven times and his injuries if left untreated could have posed a threat to life. His DNA was found on the bloodstained tip of the ‘knife’.”
Judge Lady Stacey told the pair that, but for their early guilty plea, she would have jailed them for seven years each.
She added:“It is an extremely serious matter to stab another man and hit him over the head and body with a pool cue. It is fortunate there wasn’t greater damage done to the victim.”