Yahoo News Family of Glasgow butcher killer say he was treated inhumanely while dying
The family of a man convicted of the murder of a butcher during a botched robbery in Glasgow claim he was treated inhumanely in the last days of his life.
Killer John Gallagher, 72, should have been released on compassionate grounds, says his widow, but was instead chained to guards as he lay dying in hospital.
Susie, 62, told the Sunday Mail: “The way my husband was treated in his dying days was just barbaric. The two guards were there 24/7 and they were there when he died."
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Susie said her husband was kept under constant guard in hospital by custody officers from a private prison escort firm employed by the Scottish Prison Service.
They were ordered by medical staff to remove his restraints including chains and handcuffs when he was first admitted.
She added: “They never gave us one moment to ourselves. They would sit on either side of the bed listening to every word. We could not speak with any privacy.”
Gallagher died before his lawyer’s application to Scottish Government ministers for him to be freed could be heard.
He was jailed in 1979 for the murder of a butcher during a botched robbery in Glasgow.
But he gained infamy in 1984 when prisoners at Peterhead rioted, taking two prison officers hostage and breaking through the top of the jail to protest at conditions. The five-day stand-off ended when the then PM Margaret Thatcher called in the SAS.
Gallagher, was out on licence when he learned he had cancer last November 3 and was recalled to prison the following week after an arrest on drugs charges.
Susie claims he had a life expectancy of up to two years but deteriorated in prison and died in Raigmore Hospital, having been admitted five days earlier from Inverness Prison.
Susie, of Culloden, Inverness, said her husband should have been given compassionate release in the same way as Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Al Megrahi.
He and her husband became pals in Greenock Prison, and Megrahi even sent her a Christmas card one year.
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It was not the first time that Gallagher had been recalled for breaching the terms of his parole.
Around 2004, he was convicted of stabbing a man and jailed for nine years before being released again.
A fatal accident inquiry will be held into his death. Gallagher’s lawyer Graham Mann said: “We wrote to the Scottish ministers and asked for his immediate release but it didn’t happen.
“There was never any relaxation in the hospital and he was a prisoner right to the last. It was handled insensitively and inappropriately in what was clearly his dying days.”
The SPS said: “Every death, in prison custody or our communities, is a tragedy, and our thoughts remain with Mr Gallagher’s family.”
“While it would not be appropriate to comment on an individual ahead of any FAI any application will be carefully considered to determine if there are compassionate grounds justifying release.
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