A prisoner smothered himself in cleaning fluid, barricaded himself in his cell and started a fire – because he was upset about being housed with sex offenders.
Craig Murray was jailed for 12 months over the incident following a trial at Aberdeen Sheriff Court.
Murray, 29, was a prisoner at HMP Grampian on December 14Â 2018 when a disagreement about sex offenders got out of hand.
He pled guilty to a charge of, while acting along with another, behaving in a threatening or abusive manner.
Murray behaved in an aggressive manner, brandished metal poles, made threats of violence towards other prisoners and towards prison officers.
He also poured soapy water on the floor, smothered his body in cleaning fluid and barricaded himself within a cell.
And following a trial before a remote jury, Murray was also found guilty of two further charges.
He was found guilty of, while acting with another, maliciously repeatedly striking a glass door panel with a metal pole, damaging the panel.
And he was also found guilty of wilfully setting fire to bedding, under duress, with the fire taking effect and causing smoke to fill a section of the prison, meaning the area had to be evacuated.
Murray sighed and shook his head in the dock as the jury announced their verdict.
Following the verdict, fiscal depute Christy Ward told the court Murray had three analogous previous convictions; one for wilful fireraising and two for culpable and reckless fireraising.
Another male was previously sentenced to 16 months in prison for his involvement in the incident.
Mitigation
Defence agent Ian Houston told the court those offences were committed when Murray was just 17.
He added Murray had been put under pressure by the other male, who had been the “principal mover in the situation”.
Mr Houston said: “He did the vast majority of the damage. He seemed to be more vocal than Mr Murray was.”
The solicitor added: “Mr Murray had what he believed to be a legitimate concern about being housed along with sex offenders.
“He accepts he went about pursuing his complaint in totally the wrong way.”
Sentence
Sheriff Philip Mann told Murray, a prisoner of HMP Perth: “You’ve got a bad record. There’s no doubt about that.”
He ordered Murray to be jailed for 12 months.
On leaving the dock, Murray exclaimed triumphantly: “Twelve months? So I’m doing six months!”
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