Prisoner who left serial rapist lying in pool of blood handed further jail term

A prisoner who left a serial rapist lying in a pool of blood at a top security jail has had 20 months added to the time he will have to wait before seeking release.

James Campbell, 35, punched and kicked serial sex attacker Steven Stalley after a fall-out at Glenochil Prison in Clackmannanshire.

The incident happened on December 15, 2024, in the jail’s Abercrombie Hall.

Campbell was said to have a string of previous convictions for violence and was made subject to an order for lifelong restriction at the High Court in Edinburgh in 2015.

Stirling Sheriff Court heard that when the attack occurred, all the prisoners were out in the hall and all the cells were open.

Stalley appeared to be walking away from Campbell’s cell when Campbell walked up behind him and knocked him down.

Prosecutor Jamie Hillend said: “He began punching and kicking him on the head and body.”

Warders arrived to find Stalley lying on the ground “in a pool of blood” and Campbell being ushered away by other prisoners.

Stalley, 35, was taken back to his cell where he was treated by a nurse for cuts to his head and hands.

Campbell, appearing by video link on Wednesday from HMP Grampian, pled guilty to assaulting Stalley to his injury.

CCTV of the attack was played in court.

Solicitor Kelly Howe, defending, said: “Something had occurred in the prison that involved negative behaviour by the complainer [Stalley] towards Mr Campbell and the consequence of that can be seen on the CCTV.

“The complainer is walking away and Mr Campbell goes after him.

“Mr Campbell felt – though he appreciates the court will not share his view – that there was something he required to deal with.”

She said Campbell’s OLR remained “the only matter keeping him in custody”.

She said: “He is an individual who has some quite significant mental health issues.”

Imposing the 20-month sentence – which Campbell will have to serve before being considered for OLR parole – Sheriff Keith O’Mahony told him: “This is not the highest level of violence this court will see but it’s set against the context of a number of convictions for violence, one of which has attracted an order for lifelong restriction.

“Clearly, the only possible disposal is a custodial one.”

Stalley was himself in Glenochil on an order for lifelong restriction, after raping a teenage girl and three women and stalking nine others between 2007 and 2018 in Renfrewshire.