Scooter tape attacker may get out early

Aman sentenced to 18 months in jail last month after he taped a man to his own mobility scooter could be free in weeks.

Calvin Gallon’s jail term was backdated to July 2022, the date John Tweed was bound up outside his home in Macduff.

At the time his earliest release date was May 2023 – but that could now be cut shorter, with the suggestion he might be released on an electronic tag in March.

Mr Tweed hit out at the news saying: “The law stinks.”

Gallon, while acting alongside Callum Swaffield, 18, threw a sheet over Mr Tweed and taped him to his mobility scooter, claiming the act was inspired by a TV prank show.

Mr Tweed told The Press and Journal afterwards how his head and body were tightly wrapped in tape and he feared the pair would set him on fire.

News of his potential early release emerged after Gallon, 23, appeared at Banff Sheriff Court this week to admit throwing a bottle at a stranger’s car in Macduff last February.

Gallon, a prisoner at HMP Grampian was not present when his case called but his solicitor Iain Jane said: “He is currently serving an 18-month sentence imposed on December 1 2022 and backdated so his earliest release date is mid-May 2023.”

“However he advises me he is potentially going to be okay for a tag for early release in March but had this outstanding case.”

A condition of that early release is that he must find somewhere to live first.

Sheriff David Harvie said Gallon, usually of Tocher Street, Macduff, but currently a prisoner of HMP Grampian, had a “bad record”.

He imposed a £320 fine which Gallon sought no time to pay, meaning he’ll serve 14 extra days.

On being told the news his attacker might be due for early release, Mr Tweed said: “That’s bad. The law stinks. God knows where he’s going to go. I didn’t think he would serve the full 18 months.

“But I think, if you’re given an 18-month sentence, you should serve the whole 18 months.”

‘BAD RECORD’: Calvin Gallon helped tape a man to his mobility scooter.