Richey: six days from freedom

KENNY RICHEY will have to wait at least another six days before finally being freed and flying back to Edinburgh.

Lawyers for the 43-year-old had hoped to arrange a final court appearance for today to allow him to walk free.

That led to rumours that Richey, who spent 20 years on Death Row, would be back in Edinburgh this weekend, but it has now emerged that his next hearing at the Putnam County Courthouse in Lima, Ohio, has been set for Thursday.

Richey is expected to arrive back to meet his mother Eileen after flying from Ohio to Chicago, and on to London, before a final flight to Edinburgh Airport.

Karen Torley, Richey's ex-fiance and a long-time campaigner for his release, confirmed the details to the Evening News after speaking to him last night.

She said he was "disappointed" over having to spend another week in jail, but "feeling brilliant" that a new date had been set.

Ms Torley said: "He knows that he's coming out and that's all he's focusing on. He hasn't made any plans about what he'll do when he arrives back in Edinburgh."

Richey was rushed to the St Rita's Medical Centre last Thursday after complaining of chest pains just hours before he was due to be set free.

After missing the court hearing, the judge set a new hearing date for January 8.

But his lawyer Ken Parsigian has managed to negotiate with prosecutors to move the date up to January 3 in a bid to get his client home faster.

Speaking from prison, Richey told Ms Torley that he is looking forward to a steak dinner upon his release from prison.

She said: "Kenny said he feels a little better and he will wait until he gets home to get any medical treatment he needs to have."

Ms Torley added that Richey has been anxious about his son Sean, 22, who was arrested by police on an outstanding warrant after travelling to Ohio in a bid to see his father before he left the US.

She said: "He says Christmas was not very pleasant knowing Sean was in jail for trying to come to see him. He hopes people will understand that all the lad wanted was to see his dad. And now it will probably be a very long time before he gets to see him again.

"Kenny did not know he was coming to Ohio and is upset because he won't get to see Sean before he leaves Ohio."

Richey, who grew-up in Edinburgh before moving to the US as an 18-year-old, is expected to plead no contest to attempted involuntary manslaughter, child endangering and breaking and entering.

He was originally sentenced to death in 1987 after he was convicted of an arson attack on an apartment block in Ohio in which two-year-old Cynthia Collins died.