Cast of 'The Scheme' go mental about killer being freed from prison

[Steve-O]

http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/3130990/Fiend-Thomas-McCulloch-forced-to-flee-from-mob.html

Which of this lot would you cross the street to avoid? The axe-murderer, or any member of this band of absolute bawbags pictured in the story...:confused:

[Phil D. Rolls]

http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/3130990/Fiend-Thomas-McCulloch-forced-to-flee-from-mob.html

Which of this lot would you cross the street to avoid? The axe-murderer, or any member of this band of absolute bawbags pictured in the story...:confused:

Makes you proud to be Scottish. What fine specimens they all are.

But there's just one thing bothering me -


Just by word of mouth about 40 people came out to protest about him.

But from which mouth did the words first come? Shurely not a Sun journalist. I know they are the pits of the earth, but surely they wouldn't stoop so low as to encourage a bunch of impotent losers to put themselves in danger against a mad axe murderer?

By the way, the guy with the stick would surely be all it would have taken to move him on.

[New Corrie]

Welcome to Scotland..............lunatics emptied from prisons and protests from fat scroungers with money sticks! Roll on Independence (like that will ever happen) so we can let even more of these people prosper.

[bingo70]

Welcome to Scotland..............lunatics emptied from prisons and protests from fat scroungers with money sticks! Roll on Independence (like that will ever happen) so we can let even more of these people prosper.

Aye, this would never happen in any other part of the UK would it?

Anyway, this is happening when we're part of the UK so not sure how this can be used as an argument against independance :confused:

[Pete]

The idiots read these papers...and look at the language the paper uses when describing this man.

It's a cycle of stupidity.

All it would take is five of us to get together. We could produce a magazine or paper that concentrates on demonising people, wags, glasgow gangsters, tits and the old firm.

We wouldn't have to worry about paying the council tax bill ever again.

[New Corrie]

Aye, this would never happen in any other part of the UK would it?

Anyway, this is happening when we're part of the UK so not sure how this can be used as an argument against independance :confused:

Quite easily given that McAskill is hell bent on releasing dangerous people back into the community, while the rest of the UK thinks it makes sense to keep dangerous people locked up. It's not complex.

[Steve-O]

Quite easily given that McAskill is hell bent on releasing dangerous people back into the community, while the rest of the UK thinks it makes sense to keep dangerous people locked up. It's not complex.

I'm fairly certain this release has nothing to do with McAskill. He doesn't have the final say in EVERY decision. It's clearly been decided that this person no longer presents a risk to the public.

The idiots involved in their lynch mob protest are the ones I'd be more worried about, which is the point of my thread.

[Phil D. Rolls]

Quite easily given that McAskill is hell bent on releasing dangerous people back into the community, while the rest of the UK thinks it makes sense to keep dangerous people locked up. It's not complex.

Is McCulloch still dangerous?

[lyonhibs]

Is McCulloch still dangerous?

Who knows, but just because he's got old and a bit bald, beardy and looks like he might be your Uncle/Grandad, that doesn't mean that he is definitely no longer dangerous, which appears to be the underlying point of the OP.

It takes a special kind of evil to hack up 3 people with an axe - it's not like he shot them from long distance or anything.

Just because the locals protesting look like extras from Deliverance, doesn't mean they don't have a reason do be a bit fearful/annoyed that a multiple murderer has moved in down the street.

And yes, The Sun is the absolute dregs of the gutter press, as the "journalism" in the article proves, yet again.

[fat freddy]

i remember that guys handiwork from my childhood and i'm stunned that he's been released as his crimes surely merited a 'life' sentence....in this instance the chav neighbours have a point....why should anyone live next door to such a nasty piece of work?

[Phil D. Rolls]

i remember that guys handiwork from my childhood and i'm stunned that he's been released as his crimes surely merited a 'life' sentence....in this instance the chav neighbours have a point....why should anyone live next door to such a nasty piece of work?

At the time he was insane, so he couldn't be held responsible for his actions. I am starting to think though that maybe some people should never get out.

[hibsdaft]

Welcome to Scotland..............lunatics emptied from prisons and protests from fat scroungers with money sticks! Roll on Independence (like that will ever happen) so we can let even more of these people prosper.

what do you know about the people in that photo?


I'm fairly certain this release has nothing to do with McAskill. He doesn't have the final say in EVERY decision. It's clearly been decided that this person no longer presents a risk to the public.

The idiots involved in their lynch mob protest are the ones I'd be more worried about, which is the point of my thread.

you'll be volunteering to have the guy moving in next door to you then?

[Phil D. Rolls]

what do you know about the people in that photo?



you'll be volunteering to have the guy moving in next door to you then?

And what do you know about McCulloch? You get annoyed about a judgement being made on the schemies because nobody knows them personally, yet at the same time you are happy to judge McCulloch.

What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander,no?

[Woody1985]

I read that a letter was sent by the prison service/parole board, that was dated 07.09.2010, stated they did not believe he should have been released. The letter was sent to the sibling of one of his victims.

And the thing from that photo on the sun, the woman is trying to get in the camera shot. She's not directing her 'anger' at him, she's looking at the camera and shouting. Jumped up little skank.

[Phil D. Rolls]

I read that a letter was sent by the prison service/parole board, that was dated 07.09.2010, stated they did not believe he should have been release. The letter was sent to the sibling of one of his victims.

And the thing from that photo on the sun, the woman is trying to get in the camera shot. She's not directing her 'anger' at him, she's looking at the camera and shouting. Jumped up little skank.

A bit of a cause for concern that.

The photo is pathetic. My guess is that the guy with pint glass actually made the banner, and asked the other guy to help him hold it up. Once the ladies of the street saw what was going on they wandered over to have a look as well.

The photographer hastily arranged a shot. You can tell it's all been done in a hurry as none of them has had the chance to light a cigarette. As any fool knows, any gathering of schemies whether impromptu or arranged, does not officially start till cigs have been passed round, and a few obligatory yakhunts have been exchanged.

[hibsdaft]

And what do you know about McCulloch? You get annoyed about a judgement being made on the schemies because nobody knows them personally, yet at the same time you are happy to judge McCulloch.

What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander,no?

i know that he is an murderer albeit one who may never kill again. but i also know that nobody knows for sure whether he will or not, and that to some degree or other, his release is a gamble. and i know i would not be very keen on him moving next door to me, and that probably nobody on this thread would.

moreover, i know that i am sick of society dumping the biggest ****bags amongst us into deprived, rundown estates and then wondering why these places are struggling.

good on them for sticking up for themselves, no matter how crude their banner.

how do you think Morningside would of responded?

[Steve-O]

I read that a letter was sent by the prison service/parole board, that was dated 07.09.2010, stated they did not believe he should have been released. The letter was sent to the sibling of one of his victims.

And the thing from that photo on the sun, the woman is trying to get in the camera shot. She's not directing her 'anger' at him, she's looking at the camera and shouting. Jumped up little skank.

If the Parole Board don't believe he should've been released, then how come he has been released :confused:

[Steve-O]

you'll be volunteering to have the guy moving in next door to you then?

I'm sure his conditions of release would mean he can't move to NZ :wink:

One thing I wouldn't be doing if an axe murderer was moving next door would be shouting obscenities in his face as soon as he arrived!

[Phil D. Rolls]

i know that he is an murderer albeit one who may never kill again. but i also know that nobody knows for sure whether he will or not, and that to some degree or other, his release is a gamble. and i know i would not be very keen on him moving next door to me, and that probably nobody on this thread would.

moreover, i know that i am sick of society dumping the biggest ****bags amongst us into deprived, rundown estates and then wondering why these places are struggling.

good on them for sticking up for themselves, no matter how crude their banner.

how do you think Morningside would of responded?

I think the state of our schemes isn't down to criminals being housed in them.

Given that there is a large psychiatric unit for the criminally insane in Morningside, I don't know how they would respond. I think they might have acted with a bit more dignity to be honest.

[hibsdaft]

I think they might have acted with a bit more dignity to be honest.

easy to act with dignity when you know you'll be listened to.

i agree there are wider issues with our schemes but most stem from the same principle (this story is a symptom of the wider attitude if you like) - that we dump (its state policy) all of societies problems (both the vulnerable and the ****) into these estates, be they junkies, alchies, homeless, mentally ill, battered wives, ex-cons, refugees etc, and then the politicians who make those decisions wonder aloud why they places struggle. since right to buy the concentration of these people in the worst estates is now much higher too.

and when some of them finally complain because a ****ing triple axe murderer is dumped on them, folk sneer and criticise their lack of dignity. unbelievable.

[Phil D. Rolls]

easy to act with dignity when you know you'll be listened to.

i agree there are wider issues with our schemes but most stem from the same principle (this story is a symptom of the wider attitude if you like) - that we dump (its state policy) all of societies problems (both the vulnerable and the ****) into these estates, be they junkies, alchies, homeless, mentally ill, battered wives, ex-cons, refugees etc, and then the politicians who make those decisions wonder aloud why they places struggle. since right to buy the concentration of these people in the worst estates is now much higher too.

and when some of them finally complain because a ****ing triple axe murderer is dumped on them, folk sneer and criticise their lack of dignity. unbelievable.

Of course, society would be delighted if the man was housed in an affluent area. I can see the headlines now "Sick Killer Lives High Life at Taxpayers' Expense".

Don't know about you, but if I have a problem in my neighbourhood, I go to the council, the police, my MP, the housing association. I don't get in tow with a journalist, make a banner using my kids' paint box, and walk up and down the street with my belly showing whilst drinking a glass of beer.

The reason schemes struggle is the laziness and ignorance of the people who live in them, as is so evident from this example. Those people are nothing better than a lynch mob.

At the end of the day, the man has served his time. He has been deemed fit to live in society (rightly or wrongly) and the only criminals in the situation here are the morons who drove the man out without giving him a chance to show whether he could be a good neighbour or not.

I notice you didn't respond to my point about Morningside. I think you chose an unfortunate area as an example. However, I do know that when Jimmy Boyle went to live in Inverleith, there weren't gangs of fag smoking women, and shell suited men with beer bellies posing for newspaper pictures outside his house.

Those people in the picture deserve everything that comes their way, because - rather than put their heads together and think about a solution - they howl like animals and jump up and down.

It's the same mentality that makes it very difficult for any person who is a bit "different" from the standards that these people impose on society. Single men, the mentally ill, gay people, immigrants, all know about the ignorance of schemies like these.

[Woody1985]

I don't know how the whole thing works. There's more in the papers today, I only skimmed through, they've got a copy of a letter but not sure if its the one mentioned.

[Steve-O]

I don't know how the whole thing works. There's more in the papers today, I only skimmed through, they've got a copy of a letter but not sure if its the one mentioned.

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/2010/09/12/victim-s-son-reveals-30-year-battle-to-keep-thomas-mcculloch-locked-up-86908-22556207/

The letter you speak of is from the victim's family to the Parole Board. As is only natural, the victim's family do not believe he should have been released - I see these letters almost every day at work, 9 times out of 10 they unsurprisingly all say the same thing - the person shouldn't get out.

However, it appears that the Parole Board have decided he IS safe for release (the terminology here is 'not an undue risk to the community'). After 34 years, it is certainly possible that there has been a change, and despite what the papers, and victims, would like to have us all believe, this will not have been a decision that has been taken lightly.

[Steve-O]

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/2010/09/12/shocking-dossier-reveals-fears-that-freed-axe-killer-thomas-mcculloch-will-strike-again-86908-22555525/

Here's more.

And, in actual fact, he has NOT been released. He is obviously getting some home leaves, which is normal when someone has been in prison so long, so looks like this story is the usual hysterical tabloid nonsense - complaining about someone being released from prison, who hasn't even been released yet!! :rolleyes:

[Phil D. Rolls]

I read the Sunday Mail's "evidence" yesterday. It looks like they have selected the most damning statements in his records over a long period of time and pieced them together to read like they are a picture of his state of mind at present.

What they have printed would not stand up in court, and no professional would make an assessment based on what they have told us. Yet by this irresponsible reporting, which I would say borders on lies, they have put a man at risk and placed the community in a state of alarm.

I don't know anything about McCulloch and I can't say whether he is a risk or not. Personally, I reckon he would have been better off seeing out his time inside. There is a broader principle at stake, namely that the man is a patient in a hospital.

If we tolerate this intrusion into his privacy and rights to anonymity, then we accept that any psychiatric patient could have their records reported and edited to make salacious reading for an ignorant public.

I really think it is time the press in this country were reined in. Time and time again they incite mobs into action, then report on the results with mock horror. It's not that long ago that the Sun published the names and addresses of paedophiles, and then had to admit they'd got it wrong.

My final thought on the Sun's angle on this story. I believe it was originally the Record that had the scoop and told the schemies where the guy was living. I think the Sun has deliberately set out to make them look stupid and set them up, to rubbish the Rantic's story.

[Woody1985]

That wasn't the letter I read of previously (the one they wrote).

Having a closer look at the mail yesterday it certainly looked like they had pieced together the worst of it. The most recent high risk assessment appeared to be from 2007. It didn't mention anything post 2007 that I can see.

As has been mentioned, he's not been released full time yet and it didn't sound like he would be, for some time at least.

[Phil D. Rolls]

That wasn't the letter I read of previously (the one they wrote).

Having a closer look at the mail yesterday it certainly looked like they had pieced together the worst of it. The most recent high risk assessment appeared to be from 2007. It didn't mention anything post 2007 that I can see.

As has been mentioned, he's not been released full time yet and it didn't sound like he would be, for some time at least.

There's a possibility that they don't want to let him out, and are happy to make it as difficult as possible for him to settle. It's only because he took the case to Europe that he had a limit placed on his sentence.

[Tha Cabbage Kid]

Who knows, but just because he's got old and a bit bald, beardy and looks like he might be your Uncle/Grandad, that doesn't mean that he is definitely no longer dangerous, which appears to be the underlying point of the OP.

It takes a special kind of evil to hack up 3 people with an axe - it's not like he shot them from long distance or anything.

Just because the locals protesting look like extras from Deliverance, doesn't mean they don't have a reason do be a bit fearful/annoyed that a multiple murderer has moved in down the street.

And yes, The Sun is the absolute dregs of the gutter press, as the "journalism" in the article proves, yet again.

Lyonhibs;

:faf:
couldnt help but pee myself laughting at your post. do you mean that if you shoot someone from long range that means you are not dangerous? im sure if saw you with a gun and seen someone weilding an axe i willl be the one running from both of you equally as scared as the other!!:greengrin

just thought this was funny :thumbsup:

[lyonhibs]

Lyonhibs;

:faf:
couldnt help but pee myself laughting at your post. do you mean that if you shoot someone from long range that means you are not dangerous? im sure if saw you with a gun and seen someone weilding an axe i willl be the one running from both of you equally as scared as the other!!:greengrin

just thought this was funny :thumbsup:

Lol no no, I just meant that to murder someone up close, that personally, holding the implement that is physically delivering the killer blow is - IMO - a different type of evil altogether from shooting someone from distance.

Just to confirm, if someone shot 3 folk dead, I'd expect him/her to be in jail for a very, very long time.

[Steve-O]

Lol no no, I just meant that to murder someone up close, that personally, holding the implement that is physically delivering the killer blow is - IMO - a different type of evil altogether from shooting someone from distance.

Just to confirm, if someone shot 3 folk dead, I'd expect him/her to be in jail for a very, very long time.

Hmmm...I'm not sure about that.

Wouldn't you consider that someone picking people off from long range is more of a calculated killer than someone who is potentially stabbing (for example) someone to death in some sort of heat of the moment rage?

[500miles]

We live in a society which believes that insanity can be cured, and criminals can be rehabilitated. That people should get a second chance if they are not deemed a threat to others. I believe this is right. Furthermore, I believe that taking these chances - however calculated by doctors and parole boards - are necassary in upholding these ideals. When they get it wrong, that is the price we pay for sticking with our principles. because what is right isn't always what is easy.