Hospital escape murderer jailed

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A murderer who escaped by locking his Reliance guards inside their van during a hospital visit in Perth has been jailed for seven-and-a-half years.

George McGeoch, 37, threatened the guards and handcuffed them before stealing items such as their phones, money and a games console.

He was recaptured in Perth the next day after going into a shop and showing staff his picture in a newspaper.

His sentence will begin when he has finished serving his current term.

Slashed inmate

McGeoch, who was a prisoner at Dumfries Prison, was attending a hospital appointment in Perth Royal Infirmary on 19 February last year when he escaped.

He threatened Reliance guards Craig Swindells and James Pow with a fake weapon - the tip of a disposable lighter stuck on a piece of plastic.

It looked to the men like two razor blades stuck together and McGeoch told them he would slash their jugular vein and they would bleed to death before anyone got to them.

This incident was particularly unsavoury and we are pleased that justice has been done Reliance spokesperson

He then handcuffed the men and locked them in the van before putting on one of their Reliance jackets and running away with the items he had stolen.

However, he did leave them sandwiches, a move McGeoch's lawyer said showed that he was concerned for the officers he had locked up.

McGeoch, from Glasgow, previously admitted the charges against him at the High Court in Perth.

The court heard that during the journey one of the guards realised that they were transporting a particularly dangerous prisoner and informed supervisors that it was proper procedure that three Reliance guards should be on duty.

The guard was told to continue with his work and that another member of staff would perhaps meet them at Perth Royal Infirmary. No other Reliance officer turned up.

A spokesman for Reliance said: "We escort more than 16,000 prisoners each month and incidents of this kind are extremely rare.

"This incident was particularly unsavoury and we are pleased that justice has been done."

McGeoch was jailed for life and ordered to serve a minimum of 13 years at the High Court in Inverness in 1999 for murdering 61-year-old deaf man Eric Innes.

Then in 2001, he took two nurses hostage at Saughton jail, which led to a further eight-years in prison.

In May 2007, he was given a further three-year prison sentence for slashing a fellow inmate with a broken coffee jar in Dumfries prison.