By Stefan Morkis

the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) yesterday admitted that killer Robert Mone’s recent day trip to Crieff may be the first step towards his eventual release from jail.

Ultimate responsibility for his release will lie with the parole board, however, and no date has yet been set for a hearing.

The SPS stressed that the evaluation of prisoners on their readiness for release could be an extremely protracted process, and that it may be years before Mone’s case can be heard.

Two prison guards escorted the notorious killer—who has changed his name to John Smith—on his outing earlier this week.

He was allowed to walk about the picturesque town free from handcuffs before being driven back to Shotts Prison in Lanarkshire.

His behaviour on the trip with be assessed by SPS staff, and all information gathered will be passed to the parole board to help them assess Mone’s suitability for release back into the community.

Although the SPS will not comment on individual prisoners, it did say that if an inmate’s behaviour on a day trip is satisfactory, then they will be considered for further outings or assessment place-ments.

These could involve taking part in a day-release work placement or transfer to an open prison—either Castle Huntly in the Carse of Gowrie or Noranside near Forfar.

“When a prisoner goes out on a special escorted leave it is just one stage of a very long process” said a spokesman.

“There has to be an assessment after that, and there are then various options in term of further testing.

“There are day work placements—we have a number of long-term prisoners who will go out to work in places like charity shops, for example—but we would have to be satisfied that is suitable for the particular individual.

“Then we might have someone transferred to an open prison, where they could go on home leave for up to a fortnight—but that is all part of the process of assessing how an individual will cope if they are to be released.

“We progress a lot of people every year ... It can be a protracted process.

“It is another step of evaluation, and there shouldn’t be any more read into it than that,” the SPS spokesman continued.

He added that the parole board had the final decision on whether to release a prisoner, and that day trips—such Mone’s trip to Crieff—enable it to make a more informed decision.

The Scottish Executive confirmed it has no power to over-rule a parole board’s decision to release or keep a prisoner incarcerated.

In 1967, Robert Mone committed one of the most infamous crimes in Dundee’s history.

Then aged 19, he shot and killed pregnant teacher Nanette Hanson in front of pupils in her classroom at St John’s High School.

He was sent to Carstairs after being judged mentally ill, but in 1976 he escaped along with fellow inmate Thomas McCulloch.

The pair then went on a murder spree.

Mone murdered police constable George Taylor with an axe, while McCulloch killed nurse Neil McLellan and his patient.

Mone was jailed for life for his role in the murders.

The judge recommended he remain behind bars for life, but he became eligible for parole in 2002 as a consequence of new human rights legislation.

Mone’s father—who was also named Robert—was a convicted murderer, too, who was jailed in 1979 for killing his elderly aunt and two other women.

He was later killed by a fellow inmate at Aberdeen’s Craiginches Prison.