Killer in hospital for 45 years bids for transfer to prison cell

Appeal: Lawyers for Reid argue that the 1967 decision labelling him 'mentally deficient' was flawed.© STV

A killer who has spent 45 years in a secure hospital must wait to hear if he has succeeded in his bid to be transferred to prison.

Alexander Reid was sent to the State Hospital in Carstairs as a teenager after he admitted stabbing a 22-year-old mother to death in Bishopbriggs in 1967. He is thought to be the longest-serving inmate.

Now 62, Reid has fought a long battle through the Scottish courts, the House of Lords and the European Court of Human Rights, claiming the decision to class him as "mentally deficient" was flawed.

Reid attacked Angela McCabe in her own home, stabbing her to death while her four-week-old baby daughter lay in her crib. The victim's skirt and pants were also ripped.

The killer insisted the attack was a robbery that went wrong, but prosecutors said there was a "significant sexual element" to the crime.

Reid was initially charged with murder, but the court accepted his guilty plea to a reduced charge of culpable homicide and sent him to Carstairs "without limit of time".

After Reid lost an appeal hearing in 2007, the case was referred back to the court by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission.

In the latest hearing, defence QC Jamie Gilchrist said new medical evidence had emerged that could overturn the sentence imposed in 1967.

He said: "The bottom line, in my view, as far as this case is concerned, is that with the benefit of hindsight, an error was made

"That, of course, does not involve criticism of what happened at the time. It is simply recognising that the court did not have the benefit of information the court has now."

Doctors who examined Reid's case and his performance in IQ tests cast doubt on the original assessment that he was mentally deficient.

Dr Natasha Billcliff, responsible for Reid's care in Carstairs, said he was "disruptive" needed more time and attention than any other patient and spurned attempts at therapies. She said nothing the hospital could do was likely to improve his condition.

Advocate depute Andrew Brown QC told the court that the Crown was not opposed to Reid's transfer to prison, as long as he remained locked up.

In 1985 Reid was sent temporarily to a hospital in Montrose on the basis that he was suffering from a personality disorder rather than illness.

While on a day out he was arrested for attempting to abduct an eight-year-old child. Reid, judged sane and fit to plead, served a three-month prison sentence before being sent back to Carstairs.

In previous hearings Reid's lawyers have asked for a life sentence, but said he has a greater chance of eventually winning his freedom if the decision rests with the parole board.

A panel of five judges chaired by Lady Paton will issue its decision in writing at at later date.

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