The murderer of Dundee mum Mary McLaren has suffered a heart attack, prison insiders have claimed.
Killer Patrick Rae is now pleading for a prison transfer which will allow him to serve time in his native Ireland.
Last week The Courier revealed that the 42-year-old, who raped and murdered 34-year-old Mary in 2010, could be extradited to stand trial for an earlier alleged sexual assault.
It is understood he is ”desperate” to return to Ireland, with a prison source saying that fellow inmates at Glenochil are ”out to get him”.
Rae who has a string of 13 previous convictions including rape and serious assault had been due to stand trial in May 2008 but fled to Scotland.
He attacked mother-of-three Mary after meeting her at a nightclub in the city, eventually dumping her body at the Ladywell roundabout.
Rae was sentenced to life imprisonment for a minimum of 20 years following a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh in June.
Prison sources say fellow inmates have been giving the notorious Rae a tough time over Mary’s slaying and he apparently hopes that Irish inmates will not be as aware of his past.
Meanwhile, an inquiry is under way into how Rae managed to come to Scotland, despite being sought by police in Ireland over the sexual assault allegations.’The other prisoners know what he did’It is as yet unclear whether or not the killer will be returned to his homeland.
However, a prison source insisted that Rae himself would be keen on the move.
”Rae had a heart attack just recently,” he said. ”He is pretty young and you’d have to think the chances of another one are fairly high.
”The other prisoners know what he did to Mrs McLaren and they are out to get him,” the source added.
”He comes from near Dublin and now he’s trying to get a jail switch back to Ireland, even though he’s apparently estranged from his family over there.
”If we get rid of him it will save us the £35,000 a year it costs to pay for his keep.”
Any decision to repatriate Rae is unlikely to be taken quickly, as both Scottish and Irish authorities would have to agree on the move.Criminal careerA spokesman for Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said: ”The Repatriation of Prisoners Act 1984 enables, under certain circumstances, people who have received a custodial sentence in a country other than their own to be transferred to their home country to serve the remainder of their sentence.
”However, any transfer can only take place with the agreement of the Scottish Prison Service on behalf of Scottish ministers and the Irish Prison Service.”
Throughout his trial for killing Mary jurors heard that Rae had been able to flee Ireland simply by changing the spelling of his surname from the Rea that appears on his birth certificate.
The rapist was able to settle in Scotland undetected, firstly on a caravan site near Aberdeen and then in a flat in Arbroath.
The son of a labourer, Rae and his three brothers David, Sammy and John adhered to a strict Catholic upbringing.
Patrick, however, failed to hold down a permanent job and his criminal career began at the age of just 19 when he was given a two-year suspended sentence for burglary.