Gay Married Prisoners Face Cell Ban

Published 28th Mar 2015

Two murderers who wed in Britain's first gay prison marriage will not be allowed to share a cell, jail bosses have said. Paedophile Mikhail Gallatinov, 40, and Marc Goodwin, 31, from Airdrie, is serving life for a gay hate killing, got married at the maximum security Full Sutton prison, near York, where they are serving time. According to reports, the 15-minute ceremony, during which the prisoners wore suits, was attended by four family members. It came at no cost to the public purse, a Prison Service spokesman said. We are very clear that if prisoners do get married, the taxpayer does not foot the bill for the ceremony and they are certainly not allowed to share a cell,'' he said. Gallatinov was convicted of murdering Adrian Kaminsky, 28, in Manchester in 1997 and sentenced to life with a minimum of 20 years in prison. Manchester Crown Court heard that he was a predatory paedophile, with convictions for offences against children, who was under surveillance by undercover police when he strangled Mr Kaminsky. The court heard that he told an officer he was going to commit the murder. Trial judge Judge Rhys Davies QC said at the time:This was a cold-blooded, well-planned, callous, chilling and apparently motiveless killing.'' In 2009 the High Court upheld Gallatinov's 20-year minimum term. Goodwin was jailed for life in 2007 for the homophobic murder of 57-year-old Malcolm Benfold in Blackpool. He was 23 years old at the time and was told he must serve a minimum of 18 years before he is considered for parole. According to reports at the time, a judge at Preston Crown Court heard that Goodwin, of Airdrie, Lanarkshire, had talked about gay bashing'' before the attack but said he thought the attack was also about getting cash for alcohol. After Goodwin's conviction, police described the murder asa savage, senseless homophobic attack that resulted in the death of a harmless man''.