Limbs in the Loch killer William Beggs in bid for freedom after being denied parole

A lawyer has urged a judge to throw out a legal challenge brought by “limbs in the loch” killer William Beggs as he seeks to be freed from prison.

Mark Lindsay KC told Judge Lady Drummond on Monday that parole board officials acted lawfully in a decision made by the organisation in February 2024.

The Court of Session heard how staff refused to release Beggs on license from the life sentence given to him in October 2001 for murdering Barry Wallace.

Lawyers for Beggs claim that the parole board’s decision to deny their client’s release from custody was incorrect – this has prompted them to raise a judicial review at Scotland’s highest civil court.

His legal team wants Lady Drummond to quash the February 2024 decision. They also want the parole board to convene a tribunal of new members to reconsider Beggs’s bid for freedom.

However, on Monday, Mr Lindsay said the decision made by the parole board was lawful.

He told Lady Drummond: “There’s no merit in the grounds of appeal advanced on behalf of the petitioner.

“I invite your lady to dismiss the petition.”

Beggs was jailed for life in 2001 after murdering and dismembering 18-year-old Mr Wallace after luring him back to his flat in Kilmarnock, in Ayrshire. He disposed of the limbs and torso in Loch Lomond and the head at sea.

He was ordered to serve a minimum term of 20 years in jail before he could seek to apply for release on parole, but he completed that period in December 2019.

Legal papers lodged in the case state that the petitioner is now “five years over his punishment part.”

A hearing in the action was due to begin at the Court of Session in Edinburgh in the absence of Beggs earlier this year. However, Lady Drummond agreed to discharge it so the murderer could either be brought into court or observe proceedings virtually via a video conferencing app called Webex.

On that occasion, Lady Drummond was told that Beggs, 62, wanted to be able to respond to what was said in the judicial review as he was present at the Parole Board hearing.

The court heard that Beggs had made a complaint to the prison authorities over a refusal to bring him to court and has had no response.

Beggs’s lawyer Simon Crabb said: “He wishes to be able to fully participate in the hearing by attending to hear the arguments, to observe any judicial interventions, and to be able to see justice is done in his case.”

Mr Crabb said Beggs felt he had been treated unfairly and added: “He thinks it is important he should be present either in person or by Webex. This is a case that obviously involves his fundamental right to liberty.”

On Thursday, Beggs observed proceedings from prison. He could be seen wearing a navy suit, a light blue shirt, and a royal blue tie. He sat beside a prison officer and had what appeared to be a number of legal files beside him.

Lawyers acting for Beggs claim parole board officials made their decision partly on the basis of an “irrelevant factor”.

They claim that parole board officials considered his conviction for murdering student Gary Oldham, 28, in England in 1987. However, Beggs successfully appealed the conviction.

Beggs’s legal team claims that in their February 2024 decision, parole board officials considered the death of Mr Oldham in their deliberations. They believe the parole board had no lawful basis to do this.

On Monday, Mr Lindsay said this wasn’t the case and considered evidence that related to the level of risk posed by Beggs to the public.

He added: “They looked at the lack of insight and they looked at the lack of insight, focused work on the part of the petitioner.

“They looked at the lack of a supportive network for the petitioner.

“They were entitled to conclude that the level of risk posed by the petitioner cannot be, at this time, managed within the community.”

Mr Lindsay also told the hearing that Beggs will have another chance to apply for parole at another hearing in August 2025.

Lady Drummond told the lawyers that she’d issue her findings at some time in the near future.

She added: “I will take this to Avizandum.”