A Dundee murderer’s bid for parole could be scuppered after he was caught using an illicit SIM card at Perth Prison.
Matthew Pope was jailed for life in 2014 after a jury convicted him of killing 29-year-old Michael Given at a flat in Elders Court.
He was told he would have to spend a minimum of 17-and-a-half years behind bars.
Pope, 31, returned to the dock on Friday after guards at HMP Perth discovered an unauthorised SIM card in his cell.
Fiscal depute Elizabeth Hodgson told Perth Sheriff Court the device was discovered just before 10am on January 18.
“The accused was the sole occupant of his cell,” she said.
“During a search by prison officers, a black Nokia phone was discovered.
“Inside was the illicit SIM card.”
Segregation
Pope, who was previously caught with a mobile phone charger, admitted having an unauthorised communications device at the jail.
Solicitor Jim Caird, defending, said: “He was punished at the prison for this incident.
“He lost his privileges for seven weeks and he also spend time on his own in segregation.”
He said: “Mobile phones had been handed out to prisoners at Perth but Mr Pope did not have one.
“He had been using the hall phone.
“He had used the SIM to keep in touch with family on the outside.”
Mr Caird said: “Obviously, this will be a problem in terms of his parole.”
It is understood Pope’s earliest release date is 2032.
Pope was jailed for six months, although the jail time will run alongside his current sentence.
Murder trial
A high court trial heard how Pope battered Mr Given to death using a wooden post with nails sticking out of it.
The jury heard that Pope had carried out an earlier attack on Mr Given just before midnight on July 20, 2013, during which he hit him with a wooden post, knocking him to the ground.
Pope then left the flat for about 20 minutes and returned “angry and raging”, shouting he was “back to finish off the job”.
He then repeatedly kicked and punched Mr Given, at one point getting down on his knees in a pool of his victim’s blood to continually punch him on the head and body.
Pope repeatedly stamped on Mr Given and also hit him with a wooden post numerous times, leaving several marks on his head and body.
Judge Lord Armstrong described the assault as an “obscenely violent attack” and told Pope he would serve a minimum of 17-and-half years in jail but added that no sentence would be “sufficient”.
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