A man serving a life sentence for the brutal murder of a north-east dad must serve a further three months behind bars after he told a prison guard he would “break his face”.
Dean Leech and five other men were sentenced to more than 100 years in prison after they set upon Gary Clampett with weapons including a machete, sword, chain and a hammer.
The 28-year-old’s threats towards the guards at HMP Grampian came as a result of him struggling to come to terms with the length of his sentence, Peterhead Sheriff Court was told.
‘I am going to get you…’
Fiscal depute Ruaridh McAllister told the court Leech asked to be moved to the prison’s segregation unit, a wing often used to isolate prisoners as punishment.
“He told prison officers he wanted to be moved to a different unit within the prison and if they wouldn’t put him there then he would effectively do something that would put himself there,” Mr McAllister said.
“He told a prison officer he was going to break their face when allowed out of his cell.
“A short time later he called from the prison intercom from his cell and said ‘I am going to get you whether it takes 10 months or 10 years.’
“He also made threats to kill them.”
Not the first attack on prison guards
It’s not the first time he’s had his sentence extended.
Then, his defence agent Sam Milligan said Leech had struggled to deal with the “enormity” of his lengthy sentence.
Mr Milligan reiterated that same defence today.
“He is where he is and is likely to be there for most, if not all, of the next two decades,” he said.
“He accepts he shouldn’t have acted in the fashion described. He was asking to be transferred to the segregation unit. He was having mental health issues as he came to terms with the length of his sentence.”
Mr Milligan said Leech has since been transferred to HMP Perth and “seems to be doing better there” and proving easier “for those who have to manage him”.
Dad bled to death in street
Mr Clampett bled to death on Fernie Place in Fraserburgh just over five years ago after being stabbed twice in the chest.
Leech, John Henderson, Gary Martin, Thomas Martin and James Connor were all convicted of his murder while Joseph Martin was found guilty of the lesser charge of culpable homicide.
The group were sentenced to a combined total of almost 100 years for the merciless act
Sherrif Peter Grant-Hutchison added three months to Leech’s sentence, a spell reduced from four months in light of his guilty plea.
