MANIAC WHO CUT OFF HIS DAD'S HEAD AND KICKED IT AROUND LIKE FOOTBALL POISED FOR FREEDOM
A MANIAC who cut off his dad's head and kicked it around a car park is taking his first steps towards freedom.Gregor McGurk, 44, murdered dad Benny, 63, in broad daylight in 1997.
He bludgeoned his father with a cricket bat and then sawed through his throat with a serrated knife.
After the killing, McGurk calmly walked home and sat in his flat, still holding the bloodstained knife and bat.
The scene in Castle Douglas was so shocking that trauma centres had to be set up to help witnesses.
McGurk pleaded guilty to the culpable homicide of Benny due to diminished responsibility.
The court learned Benny was fleeing in fear of his life from the house he shared with McGurk.
Psychiatrist Thomas White said McGurk was thought to be schizophrenic and would pose a danger to the public.
He was initially held at Carstairs hospital.
There is concern about McGurk's potential release as he is being moved to a lesser secure unit, with sources indicating that he could eventually be released back into the community.
McGurk has a violent record, and officials have expressed surprise at plans to move him, emphasizing the risk he poses.
The hospital reviews his case regularly, and in 2007, a plan to transfer him to a clinic in Edinburgh was blocked after public outrage.
McGurk has visited the Rowanbank Clinic in Glasgow, which is part of the hospital grounds at Stobhill Hospital, ahead of a potential transfer.
The move is part of a policy to reduce bed numbers at Carstairs, from 240 to 140 with the opening of a new hospital in 2011.
Patients no longer needing maximum security are transferred to medium secure units like Rowanbank, which have CCTV and alarms but no perimeter fence, with the expectation that some will eventually be released into society.
The move follows fears that overly secure detention could lead to legal challenges under the European Convention on Human Rights.
