Burka-clad gangster Dean King has been left scarred for life following a vicious pool cue assault in Perth prison.
King, who was jailed last year for his part in a terrifying raid on a Dundee jewellery store, was attacked by fellow inmate Robert Leggat, who tried to murder his former partner by shoving her off a bridge in Dunkeld.
The pair came to blows after a long-simmering feud over electronic cigarettes.
Leggat claimed King had been bullying him and forcing him to hand over his vapes.
The 45-year-old lobbed a pool ball at King, before cracking a cue stick over his head.
Leggat, currently serving a nine-year sentence for attempted murder, appeared at Perth Sheriff Court via video link and admitted assaulting his rival to his injury and permanent disfigurement on October 9, 2020.
Pool cue broke apart
Fiscal depute Michael Sweeney said: “The accused was a prisoner within HMP Perth at the time of this offence.
“At about 10.30am, the accused and the complainer were standing at the pool table within the prison.
“There appears to have been a general disagreement.”
The court heard that King struck first, but Leggat responded with a volley of punches.
“At that point, the accused picked up a pool ball from the table and threw it at the complainer,” said the fiscal depute.
“The complainer tried to defend himself by putting his hands up and turning his head away.
“The accused then picked up a pool cue and struck the complainer on his head with the thick end of the cue.
“He did this with such force that the cue snapped.”
Mr Sweeney said prison staff arrived to break up the pair.
King was left with a cut to his head, which required five stitches, and an injury to his eye.
“A doctor who examined the complainer said that the head injury would scar, but the eye injury wouldn’t,” said the prosecutor.
Victim’s plea for leniency
Solicitor Sean Flannigan, defending Leggat, said: “The accused was a remand prisoner at the time, as was Mr King.
“There was difficulties between them. According to the accused, King had bullied him into supplying electronic cigarettes which Mr Leggat had purchased.
“This had been going on for some time and it led to this argument at the pool table.
“The complainer made this argument physical and Mr Leggat retaliated.”
Mr Flannigan told the court: “The complainer was not in any way cooperative to the authorities in relation to this incident.
“But I understand from the accused that they have in fact become friends.”
King wrote a letter to the court, accepting some responsibility for what happened and asking for leniency for Leggat, the solicitor said.
Sheriff William Wood was told Leggat was not eligible for parole until July 2024.
His current release date is in 2028.
“I have considered a number of different disposals in this case,” the Sheriff told Leggat.
“I considered if there was any merit in imposing a short sentence, which would be consecutive to your current sentence.
“But I suspect the deterrent effect of imposing a sentence that prolongs your stay in prison will be more than made up for by the fact that, being a long-term prisoner, if you behaved in this way again that would have a significant impact on your eligibility of parole.
“And that is probably more of a deterrent than anything I could do.”
Sheriff Wood marked the offence by imposing a sentence of 12 months, but it will run alongside his current sentence and not affect his release date.
Attempted murder
Leggat was jailed in October at the High Court in Edinburgh.
The court heard how he struck his victim on the head with an unknown object before lifting her legs and shoving her from the bridge at the River Tay at Dunkeld, in Perthshire.
The assault victim survived the fall but sustained serious injuries in the attack.
King was locked up, alongside accomplices Anthony Wheeldon and Connor Willis, in November.
The three men disguised themselves in burkas before raiding Walker the Jeweller in Dundee’s Union Street, armed with an axe and a hammer.
