A gangland hitman who murdered T2 Trainspotting star Bradley Welsh attacked a prison guard while awaiting trial. Sean Orman head butted James Brown, causing a cut that required two stitches and has left the victim with a scar.
Orman 31, had a year added to his life sentence when he appeared via videolink at Hamilton Sheriff Court. He admitted assaulting Mr Brown to his severe injury and permanent disfigurement at HMP Shotts in Lanarkshire on June 18, 2020.
The attack happened as Orman was on remand for the murder of Edinburgh boxing club owner Welsh. Orman also admitted assaulting fellow lifer Raymond Anderson at the jail on Christmas Eve 2020.
He lunged at Anderson and punched him on the head. Chloe O’Hara, prosecuting, said the assault on the guard happened after officers went to Orman’s cell to carry out a search.
Ms O’Hara said: “He became hostile and was told he would be taken to a segregation unit. “Two officers took control of his arms and the accused head butted Mr Brown, causing his nose to bleed from a cut.”
The assault on Anderson happened as he and Orman passed each other in a corridor. No reason for the attack was given and Anderson was not injured.
Defence agent Graham Mann said Orman assaulted the guard because he felt the search was “unnecessary”. It happened during the early part of the Covid pandemic when the jail environment was “extremely tense”.
The solicitor said Orman had been “frustrated” by restrictions on family visits and felt he was being treated differently from other prisoners because of the nature of the murder charge he was facing. Mr Mann added: “On these two separate occasions things simply boiled over.”
Sheriff Andrew McIntyre told Orman he had to add to his 28-year sentence in order to deter other prisoners from carrying out attacks. The sheriff said: “You have an exceptionally grave history of violence, but I take account of the fact that it will be a very long time before you leave prison.”
Orman was jailed for life last May and ordered to serve at least 28 years for killing Welsh. The 48-year-old was gunned down outside his home in the city's New Town in April 2019.
Dad of one Welsh was on his way home from his boxing club when he was shot. The High Court in Edinburgh heard that Orman was paid £10,000 by a notorious gangland boss to carry out the execution.
Orman was convicted after a 12-day trial. He was also found guilty of the attempted murder of Welsh's friend David McMillan, 50, in a separate machete attack.
The judge, Lord Beckett, said the killing was "a premeditated and meticulously planned assassination" and the reason for it had not been made clear to the court. He told Orman: "To shoot an unarmed man as he approached his own house was cowardly, as well as a wicked thing to do."
Raymond Anderson, 59, a hitman for the Daniel crime gang, is serving 30 years for the murder of Michael Lyons who was shot in Glasgow in 2006. That was one of numerous violent incidents involving the Daniel and Lyons clans.
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