Murderer, William Beggs, loses legal battle for laptop in jail

Notorious killer, William Beggs, has lost a legal fight against prison bosses who refused his request to buy a laptop for use in jail.

The 55-year-old murderer instructed lawyers to go to the Court of Session to overturn a decision made by bosses at HMP Edinburgh in May 2017.

Beggs - who was handed a life sentence for dismembering Barry Wallace,18, in 1999 - wanted the computer so he could stay in touch with his lawyers and study.

However, the Scottish Prison Service refused the request.

Chiefs at Saughton Prison stated that Beggs hadn't properly explained why he needed a computer.

The Scottish Prison Service staff were concerned that other prisoners could use the laptop and this could cause security problems.

They instead said that he could use a laptop which belonged to the Scottish Prison Service.

Beggs, formerly of Kilmarnock, thought the refusal breached his human rights.

His legal team claimed the refusal breached article eight of European Convention on Human Rights - the right to a private life and to having private correspondence.

In a legal judgement issued today at the Edinburgh court, Judge Lord Clark concluded that prison staff were right to be concerned that others could use the laptop for illicit purposes.

He ruled that the prison service's concerns meant that it was right for them to refuse Beggs's request.

He wrote: "In the present case, the decision letter made reference to security and safety risks and gave various examples of such risks.

"The decision letter also referred to these risks applying not only to the prisoner who has access to the laptop but also to other prisoners who may come into contact with the device.

"The legitimate aim of any interference is therefore clear.

"The references to these in the decision letter reflect the nature and seriousness of the concerns.

"Accordingly if article eight is engaged, I consider that any interference in the petitioner's article eight rights pursued a legitimate aim and was proportionate."

Beggs was convicted of murder following a trial at the High Court in Glasgow which ended in October 2001.

The jury in the case heard how Mr Wallace vanished after a Christmas night out in his home town of Kilmarnock.

Jurors found that Beggs took the teenager to his flat and subjected him to a serious sexual assault before murdering him and cutting up his body.

The killer dumped Mr Wallace's limbs and torso in Loch Lomond and his head in the sea off the Ayrshire coast.

Beggs then fled to the Netherlands. He was extradited back to Scotland in January 2001.

Since being convicted, Beggs, who is thought to have been given almost £1 million in legal aid payments, has raised a number of actions at the Court of Session.

In the latest action, Beggs's legal team attended Scotland's highest civil court earlier this year.

They also argued that the Scottish Prison Service shouldn't have interfered with their client's human rights.

The lawyers claimed the prison service hadn't done enough to justify their refusal.

Summarising Begg's legal arguments, Lord Clark wrote: "It was for the respondents to justify the interference in the petitioner's article eight rights and they had advanced no reason specific to the petitioner's own circumstances indicating why the petitioner having a laptop would give rise to any particular risk to security or good order in the prison."

Lawyers acting for the Scottish Prison Service argued that staff at Saughton had acted lawfully.

They said that the prison service had properly considered Beggs's request and concluded that it couldn't be allowed due to security fears.

In conclusion, Lord Clark wrote that the SPS had acted correctly.

He wrote: "For these reasons, I conclude that the grounds of challenge to the respondents' decision of May 2017 advanced by the petitioner are without foundation.

"I therefore refuse the petition."