GoogleA convicted murderer has been jailed for 10 and a half years after ordering a revenge gun attack on a prison guard.
Robert Paterson, 45, was serving life in HMP Edinburgh when he claimed to be having a heart attack after swallowing bags of cocaine.
The guard suspected an escape attempt and delayed him from going to hospital in November 2022, which Paterson believed put his life at risk.
At the High Court in Edinburgh, Paterson admitted ordering accomplices to obtain a handgun and ammo, before the plot was foiled by police.
The court was told that after Paterson said he was having a heart attack, an ambulance arrived at HMP Edinburgh that had not been ordered by prison staff.
The guard was suspicious of Paterson as he had planned a previous escape attempt in 2012 that involved being taken to hospital.
The officer also saw Paterson remove a sim card from a mobile phone and swallow it.
He agreed with paramedics to monitor Paterson in the jail before he was sent to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary hours later.
Getty ImagesProsecutor Alan Cameron KC said that Paterson later complained that medics had told him there was a risk of the cocaine bags bursting in his stomach.
Mr Cameron said: “He was extremely unhappy about the delay. He claimed that he had been told at hospital that he was lucky to be alive.
“He decided that he would seek revenge upon the officer by having him seriously assaulted.”
Prison officials were concerned about Paterson’s behaviour and in February 2023 a hidden surveillance device was installed in his cell.
Paterson was recorded discussing a plan to attack the prison officer.
Mr Cameron added: “Fortunately, the police intervened and no attempt to was actually made to assault the officer who was entirely unaware.”
Paterson was at HMP Edinburgh on a life sentence after shooting a man in a street in Cumbernauld in 2008.
