Prisoner gets 20 months for razor attack

A PRISONER who slashed a gay inmate's face has been sentenced to another 20 months behind bars.

Thomas Conington, 22, had been invited into Paul Fegan's cell in Saughton Prison to borrow a DVD player when the attack took place.

Conington saw his fellow prisoner move towards him with "a look in his eye" and pulled out a razor blade and slashed Mr Fegan on the face.

Yesterday at Edinburgh Sheriff Court Sheriff Derrick McIntyre sentenced him to 20 months to run consecutively in prison for the "vicious assault".

He was already serving time for a summary assault and was due to be released on January 12 next year.

He had previously pleaded guilty to assaulting Mr Fegan to his injury and permanent disfigurement during the attack on June 6 this year.

The court heard that the two men got on well together in prison but they had had problems, with Mr Fegan circulating rumours that Conington was gay and that the two of them had met in a gay bar.

Conington - who is straight - was worried that the rumours would leave him open to unwanted attention.

Sentencing Conington, Sheriff McIntyre told him it was a "pretty vicious assault".