STUART LEGGATE'S SHOCKING CRIMES IN GLASGOW AND HIS PLANS FOR ESCAPE

In a series of disturbing revelations, Stuart Leggate, a convicted sex offender from Glasgow, has been at the center of multiple heinous acts and controversial plans while serving his sentence. Leggate, now 33 years old, is currently incarcerated at Peterhead prison in Aberdeenshire, where he is serving a minimum of 20 years for the brutal murder of eight-year-old Mark Cummings. Despite the gravity of his crimes, recent reports indicate that Leggate has been allowed to keep a keyboard in his cell, enabling him to prepare for a special service scheduled to take place at the prison's chapel on Christmas Day.

Sources within the Aberdeenshire facility have expressed outrage over this decision, with one commenting, “It’s ludicrous – he should have no place in a church after what he did.” The decision to permit Leggate to perform hymns for fellow inmates has sparked widespread criticism, given his violent past and the nature of his crimes.

Leggate’s criminal history is marked by a series of disturbing offenses. In August 2008, he revealed plans to undergo plastic surgery at the expense of the public purse, aiming to alter his appearance and identity to evade potential retribution from the public after his release. He also expressed a desire to change his name, further indicating his intent to disappear from the public eye. Despite not being eligible for parole until 2024, Leggate has reportedly confided in fellow inmates about his plans to escape detection and start anew.

Critics and officials have condemned these plans, with a source at Peterhead prison describing Leggate as “a beast of the worst kind,” and warning that if the prison service were to fund such an operation, it would become a national scandal. Leggate’s history includes three prior convictions for sexually assaulting children, and he was already on the sex offenders’ register when he committed the murder of Mark Cummings in June 2004.

His heinous crime involved the sexual assault and subsequent murder of the young Glasgow boy. Leggate strangled Mark after abusing him, then disposed of his body by throwing it down a refuse chute in a tower block. The incident took place in the Charles Street area of Royston, Glasgow, where Leggate was living at the time. The court heard that Leggate had been repairing his car as Mark and his friends played nearby, and was captured on CCTV chatting with Mark before taking him to his flat to clean grease off him.

Following the murder, Leggate placed Mark’s body in a bin bag and dumped it down the rubbish chute. He later drove to cliffs south of Berwick-on-Tweed, where he discarded the trousers used to strangle Mark along with a bloodstained towel. The court was told that Leggate described to police how “the old me had come back,” admitting to strangling Mark and saying, “It was like I actually heard myself saying ‘you let the last one go, I am not letting this one go’.”

Mark’s parents were left devastated as the judge, Lord Dawson, sentenced Leggate to a minimum of 20 years in prison. The judge emphasized the danger Leggate posed, stating, “You have a terrible record. I regard you as a highly dangerous man and the public must be protected from you for a very long time.”

Police officials from Strathclyde Police expressed their support for the sentence, acknowledging the difficulty in monitoring sex offenders due to their predatory nature. Chief Superintendent Kevin Smith stated, “We have total sympathy for the family of the young boy and yes, the sentence helps for the future but it doesn’t bring him back. Fundamentally, we cannot watch these people 24 hours-a-day and I think the circumstances showed that basically it was an opportunity exploited within a very few minutes.”

Charity representatives, including Margaret McKay of Children 1st, described the case as “a terrible tragedy” and called for increased efforts to prevent such events. She emphasized the importance of supervision and treatment for offenders identified as posing a danger to children, questioning what measures are in place to ensure the safety of other vulnerable youngsters in the community.