Infamous Scots. John Mchugh.

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Callous McHugh was given a life sentence at the High Court in Ayr in May 1975 for killing the head waiter of the Towans Hotel, Prestwick.

He told police after his arrest: “I am perversed with evil. I just murdered him to murder him.”

He attacked 65-year-old head waiter John Stewart, hit him on the head with a bottle and strangled him.

McHugh, then 37, was jailed for life despite the court hearing evidence that he had spent time in a mental hospital after taking drugs.

In 1989, he escaped from Hartwood mental hospital after simply climbing through a window and walking away.

Although McHugh was recaptured within 24 hours, his escape sparked demands for a full inquiry into why he wasn’t being detained in the State Hospital at Carstairs.

He was recently moved to HMP Addiewell in West Lothian.