A murderer who was caught with a metal spike inside his prison cell claimed he had been using it to repair his music system.
Prison guards found the bladed weapon in a house coat belonging to Stevie Angus during a routine search.
Angus was jailed for a minimum of 17 years in 2013 after he murdered 31-year-old Aaron Arthur just minutes after posting on Facebook that he was planning to kill someone.
The 28-year-old stabbed his victim through the chest, puncturing his aorta while he lay defenceless on a bed at a house in Peterhead.
When questioned about the find at Shotts high security prison in Lanarkshire, Angus said CDs had become jammed inside his hi-fi system in his cell and he was using the spike to get them out.
He appeared at Hamilton Sheriff Court where he admitted having an offensive weapon without lawful authority on October 6 last year.
Fiscal depute Callum Forsyth told the court: “Prison officers were assigned duties to search prisoners’ cells for the purpose of detecting illicit items.
“They went to the accused’s cell and three prison officers carried out a search of it.
“During the course of that search, within the lining of the accused’s house coat a seven inch spike was discovered.
“The prison officers examined the item and noted that one side of this spike appeared to have been purposefully sharpened.
“The spike was seized and the police subsequently attended the prison and reported the matter to the procurator fiscal.”
Angus’ solicitor Diarmid Bruce said his client had no intention of hurting anyone with the spike and just wanted to play music in his cell.
He said: “Prisoners are allowed hi-fis in their cells and one was given to the accused by his family who had bought it in Argos.
“CDs became stuck in the hi-fi and he couldn’t get them out and he couldn’t work it.
“He asked other prisoners what he could use and he was given this item.
“He was using for the purpose of fixing the hi-fi.
“While he has been in prison he has not been involved in any fights.
“He has found it hard to get his head around the fact that he is serving a life sentence and he has lost certain privileges in prison because of this.
“There is no suggestion he was using this as a weapon but he accepts he knew he shouldn’t have had something like that.”
Sheriff Shiona Waldron told Angus it was a “very serious offence” and sentenced him to 12 months in prison. The sentence will run concurrently with his life sentence.
Angus’ trial at the High Court in Aberdeen heard how Angus spent the hour before Mr Arthur’s death posting aggressive comments on social networking sites.
He wrote numerous posts from 1.30am detailing how he “was thinking of murder” and “actually thinking about chopping someone”.
At 2.16am he asked his friend “should I stab someone to death while I speak to you?”.
Then at 2.20am he told another person “stop ******* about before I stab Aaron Arthur in his sleep”.
Less than 15 minutes later Mr Arthur was lying in a pool of blood.