azathoth777
10-24-2006, 09:35 PM
A DOUBLE baby-killer is among THREE HUNDRED crooks set to be given leave from Scotland's open jails this Christmas.
Two knife killers are also part of the army of cons being lined up for festive breaks.
And the Christmas list includes a Loyalist terrorist, a serial armed robber, a heroin baron and a racist firebomber.
MSPs angrily condemned the scheme last night.
The mass release will virtually empty Noranside open prison in Angus.
Around 150 cons there are preparing for festive home leave, and another 150 are set to head home from Castle Huntly open jail near Dundee.
Just days ago, a court heard how a thug allowed home on leave last Christmas tried to kill a man in a savage hammer attack.
But prison bosses defended this year's festive getaway. They said spending time at home helped prepare inmates for freedom.
Evil dad IAN METCALFE, who smothered his two baby sons, is among the cons heading on to our streets for Christmas.
Metcalfe, 38, killed 11-week-old son Kyle in 1988, then did the same to five-month-old Dylan in 1996.
He was jailed for 10 years for culpable homicide as recently as four years ago.
Metcalfe smoked a cigarette and drank a can of lager as paramedics battled to save Kyle. He fathered his two victims by different women.
Another killer being lined up for the three-day seasonal break is THOMAS MULLEN, now 40. He got eight years in 2003 for stabbing adad of three outside a Perth pub.
Blade thug JAMES BOYLE will also enjoy Christmas at home, despite a 10-year sentence for killing his girlfriend by driving a steak knife into her heart.
Boyle was sentenced in 2002.
Like Mullen, he was convicted of culpable homicide.
Another name on the Christmas list is Ulster Volunteer Force fanatic ROBERT BAIRD, who got 11 years for trying to smuggle explosives from Scotland to Northern Ireland.
Baird, 50, was jailed in 2002. He and co-accused Donald Reid, 32, were caught with enough explosive to build 10 car bombs.
The prison season of goodwill extends to racist thugs as well as killers and terrorists.
Hate-filled GEORGE RITCHIE, 23, tried to burn a young couple alive at their home in Airdrie, Lanarkshire, because the man was white and the woman was Asian.
The woman was heavily pregnant when Ritchie poured petrol through her letterbox. He was caught before he could set it alight.
Ritchie got 12 years in 2001 for racially aggravated attempted murder. But he's set to be back with his family this festive season.
Ruthless armed robber IAN PHELPS, dubbed "Houdini" during his five-year crime spree, is now preparing for an officially approved escape from prison life.
Phelps, 39, stole more than £800,000 in raids on travel agents and bookmakers.
He handcuffed 48 members of staff, most of them women, and threatened to shoot several.
Phelps's crimes earned him a 14-year term in 2001, but they did not bar him from the Christmas list.
Former fisherman BRUCE GOODBRAND has missed just two family Christmases since he was jailed for six years for dealing heroin in Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire.
Goodbrand, 50, made hundreds of thousands of pounds from addicts' misery. His own son was hooked on the drug he sold.
The drug baron was only sentenced in 2004. Now he's heading home for the holidays.
One of Scotland's worst killer drivers, JAMES CHESHIRE, is also looking forward to a Christmas break. He was jailed for five years in 2004 for killing pillion passenger Tracey Smith in a crash while riding his 600cc motorbike the wrong way down a dual carriageway.
Cheshire drank 12 PINTS of beer before the accident.
All the cons on the list were originally sentenced to 18 months or more. And the release scheme could even extend to murderers.
It's understood cruel husband ALEXANDER ARTHUR, who strangled wife Anne after subjecting her to years of violence, is a possible candidate for Christmas leave.
Arthur has only served six years since he was sentenced to life. The release scheme was slammed last night by SNP justice spokesman Kenny MacAskill.
He said: "This calls the very point of open prisons into question.
"Society has deemed that these people should be punished. They are not being punished - by locking them up, or through community service - over the festive period."
A spokeswoman for the Executive tried to calm fears over the scheme. She insisted: "Public safety is a priority. No prisoners will be released without a community safety assessment being carried out."
But last year, the Christmas leave scheme nearly cost a man his life. Darren Flockhart, 25, was drinking in McAndrews Bar in Kirkcaldy, Fife, on Christmas Day when convict David Gilday tried to kill him with a hammer.
Gilday had been allowed Christmas leave from Noranside. He was sentenced to eight years for the attack on Darren, to be served after his original 10-year sentence.
A spokesman for the Scottish Prison Service said inmates were sent to open prisons to prepare them for the end of their sentences.
He added: "We strive to ensure prisoners can be safely integrated back into society while making sure the public are protected."
Two knife killers are also part of the army of cons being lined up for festive breaks.
And the Christmas list includes a Loyalist terrorist, a serial armed robber, a heroin baron and a racist firebomber.
MSPs angrily condemned the scheme last night.
The mass release will virtually empty Noranside open prison in Angus.
Around 150 cons there are preparing for festive home leave, and another 150 are set to head home from Castle Huntly open jail near Dundee.
Just days ago, a court heard how a thug allowed home on leave last Christmas tried to kill a man in a savage hammer attack.
But prison bosses defended this year's festive getaway. They said spending time at home helped prepare inmates for freedom.
Evil dad IAN METCALFE, who smothered his two baby sons, is among the cons heading on to our streets for Christmas.
Metcalfe, 38, killed 11-week-old son Kyle in 1988, then did the same to five-month-old Dylan in 1996.
He was jailed for 10 years for culpable homicide as recently as four years ago.
Metcalfe smoked a cigarette and drank a can of lager as paramedics battled to save Kyle. He fathered his two victims by different women.
Another killer being lined up for the three-day seasonal break is THOMAS MULLEN, now 40. He got eight years in 2003 for stabbing adad of three outside a Perth pub.
Blade thug JAMES BOYLE will also enjoy Christmas at home, despite a 10-year sentence for killing his girlfriend by driving a steak knife into her heart.
Boyle was sentenced in 2002.
Like Mullen, he was convicted of culpable homicide.
Another name on the Christmas list is Ulster Volunteer Force fanatic ROBERT BAIRD, who got 11 years for trying to smuggle explosives from Scotland to Northern Ireland.
Baird, 50, was jailed in 2002. He and co-accused Donald Reid, 32, were caught with enough explosive to build 10 car bombs.
The prison season of goodwill extends to racist thugs as well as killers and terrorists.
Hate-filled GEORGE RITCHIE, 23, tried to burn a young couple alive at their home in Airdrie, Lanarkshire, because the man was white and the woman was Asian.
The woman was heavily pregnant when Ritchie poured petrol through her letterbox. He was caught before he could set it alight.
Ritchie got 12 years in 2001 for racially aggravated attempted murder. But he's set to be back with his family this festive season.
Ruthless armed robber IAN PHELPS, dubbed "Houdini" during his five-year crime spree, is now preparing for an officially approved escape from prison life.
Phelps, 39, stole more than £800,000 in raids on travel agents and bookmakers.
He handcuffed 48 members of staff, most of them women, and threatened to shoot several.
Phelps's crimes earned him a 14-year term in 2001, but they did not bar him from the Christmas list.
Former fisherman BRUCE GOODBRAND has missed just two family Christmases since he was jailed for six years for dealing heroin in Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire.
Goodbrand, 50, made hundreds of thousands of pounds from addicts' misery. His own son was hooked on the drug he sold.
The drug baron was only sentenced in 2004. Now he's heading home for the holidays.
One of Scotland's worst killer drivers, JAMES CHESHIRE, is also looking forward to a Christmas break. He was jailed for five years in 2004 for killing pillion passenger Tracey Smith in a crash while riding his 600cc motorbike the wrong way down a dual carriageway.
Cheshire drank 12 PINTS of beer before the accident.
All the cons on the list were originally sentenced to 18 months or more. And the release scheme could even extend to murderers.
It's understood cruel husband ALEXANDER ARTHUR, who strangled wife Anne after subjecting her to years of violence, is a possible candidate for Christmas leave.
Arthur has only served six years since he was sentenced to life. The release scheme was slammed last night by SNP justice spokesman Kenny MacAskill.
He said: "This calls the very point of open prisons into question.
"Society has deemed that these people should be punished. They are not being punished - by locking them up, or through community service - over the festive period."
A spokeswoman for the Executive tried to calm fears over the scheme. She insisted: "Public safety is a priority. No prisoners will be released without a community safety assessment being carried out."
But last year, the Christmas leave scheme nearly cost a man his life. Darren Flockhart, 25, was drinking in McAndrews Bar in Kirkcaldy, Fife, on Christmas Day when convict David Gilday tried to kill him with a hammer.
Gilday had been allowed Christmas leave from Noranside. He was sentenced to eight years for the attack on Darren, to be served after his original 10-year sentence.
A spokesman for the Scottish Prison Service said inmates were sent to open prisons to prepare them for the end of their sentences.
He added: "We strive to ensure prisoners can be safely integrated back into society while making sure the public are protected."