Anger at six years for prostitute's strangler

THE devastated family of a prostitute, who was strangled before her half-naked and abused body was dumped in a field, screamed their hate at her killer yesterday after he was jailed for just six years.

Joseph Harrison, a farmworker with a history of drug abuse, was originally charged with the murder of Susan Third, 21. But last November the Crown accepted his plea to a reduced charge of culpable homicide on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Yesterday, when Harrison appeared at the High Court in Edinburgh following a series of psychiatric assessments, the sentence handed down by the judge, Lord Abernethy, sparked outrage from the family of his victim.

Ms Third's aunt, Sandra Third, shouted at Harrison as he was led from the dock: "I hope you die in jail."

Harrison, 29, of Bank Street, Brechin, strangled Ms Third in February of last year after she approached him in his car at Aberdeen Harbour, in the city's red-light area.

Lord Abernethy said: "The sentence I impose must not be seen in any way as putting some kind of value on her life."