Escapee conman given extra-time

May 26 2009

A FRAUDSTER who went on the run from under-fire Castle Huntly open prison last October was at liberty for six months before handing himself in to authorities in Ireland.

But 43-year-old Derek Watson paid the price for his extended home leave when he was given an extra nine months at Perth Sheriff Court, writes Les Stewart.

He will serve the jail term at the end of his near five-year sentence which was imposed at Dundee Sheriff Court on May 25, 2007.

The court was told that he had been granted a temporary release licence on October 1 for a home visit.

He should have reported back to the Longforgan prison on October 8 but failed to do so.

Police issued an appeal to the Perthshire Advertiser for help in tracing him as it was known he had friends and family in the Perth and Dundee areas.

Watson, who was serving four years and 11 months, was extradited from Dublin after he gave himself up.

He pled guilty to attempting to pervert the course of justice by absconding from the Carse of Gowrie jail, which has seen a number of prisoners go on the run.

Solicitor John McLaughlin said that a condition of his home leave was that he shouldn’t contact his partner or daughter. He had no-one else in the Dundee area and stupidly decided not to go back.

The lawyer added that the accused wasn’t “thinking straight” at the time.

Watson had been found guilty after trial at Dundee on 25 fraud charges.

He conned a university research fellow out of almost £52,000 and also fleeced several elderly by posing as a roofing contractor.

Watson will serve the remainder of his sentence in closed conditions.