Killer locked up after pulling a knife on doctor
Previously released early despite being a danger risk
A MAN who was released early from a prison sentence for killing a prostitute has been ordered to be detained without limit of time after pulling a knife on his psychiatrist during a consultation.
Joseph Harrison was freed from his culpable homicide sentence despite psychiatrists warning that he posed “a serious risk of harm”.
Harrison then produced a knife during an appointment with a psychiatrist after claiming he heard voices telling him he was being targeted by a death squad.
After hearing about the knife incident, Sheriff Fiona Tait made Harrison the subject of a compulsion order.
He will be detained at Murray Royal psychiatric hospital in Perth without limit of time.
Harrison – who was jailed for six years for killing prostitute Susan Third and having sex with her lifeless body – claimed he needed the knife for protection.
Perth Sheriff Court was told that Harrison, 38, was released early from the six-year sentence imposed for culpable homicide at the High Court, despite still being considered highly dangerous to the public.
Harrison killed the 21-year-old before dumping her body, but the sentence was limited as he was ruled to be suffering from diminished responsibility at the time.
Crown prosecutors appealed against his sentence, claiming it was too lenient, but Appeal Court judges dismissed the case. Relatives of Miss Third had described the decision as an “absolute disgrace”.
Harrison was released after serving four years for the 2005 killing.
Fiscal depute Carol Whyte told Perth Sheriff Court that Harrison was moved from the State Hospital at Carstairs, into prison, before being released in February 2009, on the fourth anniversary of Miss Third’s death. His licence period ran out in February last year.
Three months later he was at a meeting with a consultant psychiatrist when he produced a knife with a four-inch blade from his pocket and was subsequently arrested.
Ms Whyte said: “He is monitored by protection agency arrangements. He is assessed as being at high risk of causing serious harm.
““On 20 May the doctor saw him for a scheduled consultation.
“It turned to a recent incident where the accused believed he could hear voices and that a hit squad were looking to kill him. He removed a knife from his inside pocket and showed it to the doctor.
“The doctor instructed him to put it away and he did so. He believed the hit squad were out to get him and needed the knife for protection.
“The doctor was extremely concerned about his irrational behaviour. Police were called and searched the accused and recovered the knife.”
Harrison, c/o Murray Royal Hospital, Perth, admitted having an offensive weapon within the hospital on May 20 last year.
Miss Third approached Harrison, from Brechin, Angus, in February 2005 as he sat crying in his car at Aberdeen Harbour.
He later strangled her with the fascia of his car stereo before driving to a field near Catterline, Aberdeenshire, where he sexually assaulted the mother-of-one and dumped her body.
‘‘ The doctor was extremely concerned about his behaviour. Police were called and searched the accused