A convicted murderer failed to return to prison because he was afraid he would get into trouble over a black eye.
Francis Doherty was on home leave from HMP Castle Huntly when he got into a scuffle outside a chemist in Glasgow.
The 49-year-old had been picking up his methadone prescription and claimed he had been assaulted.
Solicitor James Smith told Perth Sheriff Court that his client didn’t report the matter to the police and, on the day of his return, noticed the extent of his injuries.
Mr Smith said: “When Sunday came, he looked in the mirror and saw this injury to his face. He wondered what the consequences would be for him and advises me that he swithered back and forth about what he was going to do whether he was going to go back to prison, or miss the bus and come up with an excuse.”
As he agonised over his decision, Doherty ended up missing his lift back to Castle Huntly on June 23 and sparked a major manhunt.
Depute fiscal Carol Whyte revealed that this was the third time the prisoner had failed to return after being released on temporary licence.
Despite his previous misdemeanours, Doherty who was jailed for life in 1987 after stabbing a 16-year-old through the heart was granted a period of home leave on June 19.
He was dropped off at Buchanan Street bus station with strict orders to return four days later to meet the G4S bus.
Unfortunately, by 1pm on June 23 the accused was nowhere to be seen and staff at Castle Huntly alerted the police to his disappearance.
Within 11 hours, officers at the Strathclyde division of Police Scotland received an anonymous tip-off and officers had apprehended Doherty by midnight.
Mr Smith said the tip-off had actually come from his client’s mother, after he made a frantic phonecall begging her to hand him in.
“Having realised he missed the bus, he buried his head in the sand,” he added.
“He thought to himself that he would let the evening pass and consider what to do the next day. At 11pm, he decided it was the wrong thing and made the decision to return to Castle Huntly.”
The solicitor told the court that Doherty had been struggling to cope with anxiety issues before going on home leave and his time away from prison had exacerbated them.
As a result of his illicit adventure, he has now been transferred back to a high-security prison.
Doherty, a prisoner at HMP Shotts, admitted failing to return to Castle Huntly and attempting to defeat the ends of justice.
He was sentenced to 14 months in prison.