A convicted murderer who was armed with a pool cue bit a female officer during a disturbance at Shotts prison.
Stevie Angus was jailed for life in 2013 after being found guilty of murdering Aaron Arthur, 31, in Peterhead.
He had been serving his sentence, a minimum of 17 years, at the Lanarkshire jail when an incident took place in January 2020.
Angus, 34, refused to return to his cell and threatened to kill prison officers. He jumped on to a pool table and grabbed a cue, swinging it at officers after they drew their batons.
Angus entered guilty pleas to assault and threatening or abusive behaviour charges when he appeared at Hamilton Sheriff Court.
The court heard that Angus was eventually overpowered and restrained but bit the female officer on the inside of her upper thigh.
Depute fiscal Paul Jamieson said: “The accused refused to go behind his cell door to allow his section to be locked up and thereafter climbed on top of the pool table and began to pace around on top of it.
“An officer requested for others to attend but the accused shouted a number of threats towards them.
“Due to the level of threat a few officers drew their batons and the accused who had a pool cue was swinging it round at officers and brandishing it.
“He was eventually apprehended and taken to the floor but continued to fight them and in the process bit [the woman] on the inside of her upper left thigh before he was brought under control.”
Sheriff Linda Nicholson was told that the prison officer was left with bruising to the inside of her leg.
Angus was stripped of privileges and spent three-and-a-half months in segregation following the incident.
In mitigation defence solicitor Ian Scott told the court that Angus’s mental health had deteriorated and that sparked the incident.
He said: “There was no serious injury done and this seems to have been a flare up of his mental health where he jumped on the pool table to get attention.
“He wanted to speak to a governor because he felt this issue was being untreated.”
Angus fatally stabbed Aaron Arthur in December 2012.
He claimed he had acted in self defence but a jury convicted him of murder.
Passing sentence at the High Court in Aberdeen, Judge Lord Doherty said: “You have been convicted of an unprovoked attack with a knife on a defenceless victim as he lay in bed.”
Two years into serving his sentence at HMP Shotts he was found to have a sharpened seven-inch metal spike in a house coat within his cell. He claimed he was using it to get CDs out of a hi-fi system. He was sentenced to 12 months for that offence.
The murderer is now serving his sentence at HMP Low Moss in Bishopbriggs, and the court was told his earliest release date is 2030.
Sheriff Nicolson sentenced him to a year for the assault on the female officer at Shotts, which will run concurrently with the sentence for murder.
She said: “There is no alternative other than a custodial sentence.”
Don't miss the latest headlines from around Lanarkshire. Sign up to our newsletters here.
And did you know Lanarkshire Live is on Facebook? Head on over and give us a like and share!
