A serial thief has been found dead in prison - three days after he appeared in court charged with a fresh break-in. The body of Scott Graham was discovered by prison staff at HMP Low Moss, near Bishopbriggs, on October 16.
The Renfrew man, 40, had been remanded in custody on October 13, after appearing at Paisley Sheriff Court on a charge of attempting to open a locked property with intent. Justice bosses have been informed and will stage a Fatal Accident Inquiry in court at a later date to investigate the cause of death.
A Scottish Prison Service spokesperson said: "Scott Graham, 40, a prisoner at HMP Low Moss has died on 16 October 2022. He was remanded at Paisley Sheriff Court in 2022. Police Scotland have been advised and the matter reported to the Procurator Fiscal. A Fatal Accident Inquiry will be held in due course."
Prior to his death, Graham had been due to re-appear at Paisley on November 9, after being remanded in custody on the break-in charge. The alleged offence came after a long line of crimes he had committed around Renfrewshire, after moving to Renfrew from Paisley.
In December 2017 he was sentenced to 34 months in prison after breaking into the home of a 70-year-old man and stealing £2,000, €900, bank books and a passport, as well as an iPad. After admitting the September 2017 thefts, Graham, who was then also a prisoner at Low Moss, was slammed by a judge for his repeated pattern of housebreaking and theft.
Lawyers acting for the thief admitted he "had a significant record...and a number of analogous offences". Sheriff Tom McCartney, sentencing him at the time, said: “The nature of this crime, committed while you were subject to three bail orders, and faced with a substantial record of previous convictions for offences of a similar nature, means there is no other sentence appropriate than a sentence of imprisonment.”
Prior to this he was also convicted of stealing £550 and tobacco from a Renfrew pub and making threats towards a man who visited his girlfriend's home. Graham was also jailed for a year in September 2013 after stealing £50 from one shop and a till from another. Lawyers acting for the serial burglar that day said he stole to feed a lifetime heroin habit he had developed as a schoolboy.
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