Glasgow gangland hitman hacked off Edinburgh robber's ear in Saughton prison feud

A gangland hitman slashed a crime mob member - just weeks after he hacked off an infamous Edinburgh armed robber’s ear in a series of behind bars attacks.

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David Scott, 36, pounced on Paul Lyons in the visiting room at HMP Perth on December 10 2019.

The 39-year-old road rage killer - part of the underworld Lyons clan - was struck near a vital artery in his neck.

Hitman David Scott

Scott screamed: "Paul Lyons is a grass and his whole family are grasses."

He was moved to Perth after a horrific attack on Edinburgh armed robber Dale Thomas in a cell in Saughton prison which left him grotesquely disfigured.

The thug was behind bars having been jailed for at least 22 years for shooting dead Euan "EJ" Johnston in Glasgow in November 2016.

His QC said Scott believed Lyons and Thomas "bore ill will" towards him as a result of the murder - and that the attacks were "pre-emptive".

Armed robber Dale Thomas was the victim of a brutal prison attack

Scott was handed an eight year sentence after he admitted assaulting the pair to their injury, permanent disfigurement and danger of their lives.

The High Court in Glasgow heard Lyons suffered a wound near his carotid artery. He refused to speak to police.

Scott later admitted he had brought a weapon from his previous jail.

A razor blade attached to melted plastic was discovered lying in the visiting room.

READ MORE: Dale Thomas: Edinburgh man commits robbery weeks after leaving prison

Earlier, on December 10, Scott pounced on Thomas during a ‘sticky-water' attack in HMP Edinburgh.

Miss Farquharson: "His injuries reveal that he was struck with a knife and a hot water and sugar solution thrown on him. His right ear was cut off."

Thomas was discovered by prison staff lying in a pool of blood.

Scott told staff: "You are going to need some medical expertise in there."

Thomas was rushed to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary before being transferred to St John’s Hospital in Livingston where the remains of his ear was removed.

He was attacked while serving four years and eight months for a series of terrifying raids on bookies in the Capital.

Thomas and Darren Lamb, 25, were jailed in 2015 for two raids on Edinburgh bookies.

They admitted assaulting Paula Davitt at a branch of Ladbrokes in Gorgie Road and taking £3,757.

The pair also pled guilty to assaulting Gareth Roberts, 27, and robbing him of £2,365 at a Ladbrokes branch in Morningside Road.

In both incidents staff were threatened with a screwdriver.

READ MORE: Armed robber who targeted Edinburgh bookies now in a coma after ear was hacked off in Saughton Prison

Thomas was released from prison after the attack but carried out a failed armed robber weeks later in April of last year.

He went into a Scotmid store in the Capital's Boswall Parkway and threatened to stab an employee after declaring: “This is a robbery.”

Thomas, who admitted a string of charges, was caught when police recognised a car he had stolen earlier.

Scott also pled guilty to assaulting a prison officer to his severe injury in HMP Perth on May 4 2020.

Defence QC Brian McConnachie said: "As a result of his conviction for murder, he became a person of interest to other people within the prison system.”

Lady Haldane said the jail-term would have been 12 years, but for the guilty pleas.

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