A young offender serving life for "internally decapitating" a 61-year-old man was handed more jail time for punching three warders during a football field bust-up at a junior prison.
Tristan Kiely was inside for brutally murdering Frank Sinclair by repeatedly stamping on his head in East Kilbride in January 2019.
Now 20, he was only nine months into his life sentence - for which he'd been told he would serve at least 11 years in custody - when he flailed at the warders at Polmont Young Offenders' Institution, Stirlingshire.
Falkirk Sheriff Court was told that the incident occurred about 2pm on November 15th, 2020, on an AstroTurf pitch next to Munro Hall at the junior jail, where Kiely, then 18, was incarcerated.
A number of prisoners were taking part in exercise when a fight broke out between various inmates. Several prisoners were involved, and some were standing by.
A female prison officer was unconscious, and was being tended to by other warders. Kiely was not involved in the initial rammy.
As the group who were standing by were ushered from the area, Kiely attempted to retrieve his water bottle, which was near to the female prison officer.
Prison warder Colin Geddes told Kiely to return to the hall, and refused to let him collect his water bottle. Prosecutor Karen Chambers said: "He told him someone would bring it to him."
Kiely "wasn't happy with this instruction". He told Officer Geddes, "F**k off, I'll be getting it the now, get out of my way."
Ms Chambers said: "He tried to push past Officer Geddes, who repeated his instruction that he should return to the hall. The accused then swore at Geddes, and in the course of a struggle, slipped backwards and punched Geddes in the face."
Two other warders, Colin McCallum and Austin McRae, intervened, and were also punched in the face by Kiely, who was "continuing to lash out" as he was restrained.
Kiely was taken to the jail's segregation unit, and Officer Geddes attended Forth Valley Royal Hospital. He had swelling and bruising. His nose was deviated left - but he manually pulled it back into line.
Ms Chambers said: "At a follow-up ENT appointment he indicated he was not particularly concerned about the appearance of his nose." Officer McCallum suffered a black eye and Officer McRae "some redness".
Kiely was given jail punishments including 14 days loss of recreation, privileges, and earnings, and three days' confinement. Appearing by video link from the prison, he pleaded guilty to assaulting the warders.
Solicitor Danielle McAlonan, defending, said it would be seven more years before Kiely would be eligible to apply for parole. She said he was now "mentoring" new prisoners in the jail, and studying for National 5 exams in maths and art.
She said: "This incident has given him the wake-up call he needed to keep his nose out of anyone else's business." Sheriff Craig Harris jailed him for six months - to be served consecutive to his life term.
He said: "Violence in prison towards officers doing their duty undermines safety of prisons for everyone. Prison officers are entitled to look to the courts for protection in their critical role of ensuring order and discipline.
"Each of these officers was injured, thankfully none with lasting effects. A sentence of general deterrence is required."
The 2019 attack on Mr Sinclair was apparently sparked because Kiely believed Mr Sinclair had pushed him. The incident took placed near Westwood Baptist Church in East Kilbride.
Mr Sinclair was making his way home from the pub when Kiely and three girls came across him lying on the ground.
Kiely, from East Kilbride, initially tried to help him to his feet, but snapped when he scraped his own face as they lost their balance and fell.
A witness told how Kiely attacked Mr Sinclair with "hard and forceful stamps", adding: "I could hear the sound of his foot hitting the head."
One of Kiely's girl pals, 17, also described the head stamping horror, saying: "He did it two or three times. I could hear the man groaning."
The victim was left with injuries which included a fractured Adam's apple and severed vertebrae at the top of his spine.
Imposing the life sentence, Lord Burns told him at the High Court in Edinburgh: "By this terrible act you killed him and deprived his family and friends of his love and companionship.
"They will have to live with that for the rest of their lives and you have to live with that for the rest of your life. You fled knowing Mr Sinclair had been injured."
Pathologist Sharon Calvert said Mr Sinclair had been "internally decapitated", with 19 injuries to his face and neck.
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