A pair of predatory paedophiles who murdered a woman yesterday launched a human rights challenge in a bid to see each other in prison as they serve their life sentences.
Charles O’Neill and William Lauchlan claim the Scottish Government has failed to respect their rights under the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) and they have been discriminated against on the basis of their sexual orientation.
They maintain that they were in a “long-standing intimate and sexual relationship with each other” prior to being jailed for life after they were convicted of murdering Allison McGarrigle following a trial in 2010.
O’Neill, 51, and Lauchlan, 37, are housed in different prisons within the Scottish jail system and the authorities have not granted permission for them to see each other in visits.
They claim that their treatment has breached their rights under Article 8 of the ECHR, which provides protection for private and family life.
They are also seeking damages of £35,000 each claiming they are entitled to an award for “hurt feelings” among other things.
O’Neill was ordered to serve at least 30 years in prison and his accomplice was given a minimum term of 26 years after they were found guilty of murdering 39-year-old Mrs McGarrigle in Largs, in Ayrshire, in 1997 and disposing of her corpse at sea. Her body was not found.
They were also sentenced for sex abuse offences – some committed in Aberdeen and Peterhead – following two trials.
Sentencing judge, Lord Pentland, told them that they were relentless and murderous paedophiles.
David Leighton, counsel for the killers in the judicial review, told the Court of Session in Edinburgh: “Their position is they had a long-standing, homosexual relationship before their conviction and imprisonment and they seek contact with each other through letters, by telephone and in particular through what is called inter-prison visits, allowing face-to-face contact.”
O’Neill is presently detained in Edinburgh’s Saughton prison and Laughlan is held in Glenochil jail, in Clackmannanshire. The Scottish ministers are contesting the action brought by the killers and maintain that none of the orders sought from the court is justified.
The hearing continues.