Jail for drugs pensioner

The court heard the drugs haul was "considerable"

A double murderer once branded Scotland's most dangerous man has been jailed for 12 years for drug offences.

Donald Forbes, 68, became a dealer after being freed from his second life sentence for murder after spending 40 years in jail.

Forbes was caught with cocaine and cannabis worth almost £400,000 on the streets while evading an order to return him to prison.

Lord Menzies told Forbes at the High Court in Edinburgh: "You have a dreadful record of previous convictions.

"You were convicted of murder in 1958 and thereafter on being released you committed another murder only six weeks after your release."

Forbes spent a further 28 years in jail after the second killing and was released on license in 1998.

It appears that having committed two murders earlier in life, in your late 60s you turned to the illegal trade in Class A and Class B drugs

Lord Menzies

His license was recalled in December 2000, but he managed to evade arrest until he was caught in the drugs operation at the start of this year.

Lord Menzies said: "It appears that having committed two murders earlier in life, in your late 60s you turned to the illegal trade in Class A and Class B drugs which have the most serious consequences and have caused death and distress throughout the community."

The judge said the value of the drugs was "considerable" and added that the discovery of paraphernalia associated with the illegal trade at his home suggested that Forbes was not at "the bottom of the hierarchy of drug dealing".

Greying and bearded Forbes showed no emotion as the judge told him that a significant jail sentence had to be imposed for his latest crimes.

A police raid on Forbes flat in Ryehill Road, Royston, in Glasgow, uncovered a cache of drugs along with equipment, including an industrial press, to prepare, bulk and cut the drugs.

A police raid found cocaine and cannabis

Officers recovered cocaine with a potential street value of £130,000 along with cannabis worth up to £260,000.

Forbes earlier admitted being concerned in the supply of both the Class A and B drugs between 1 December 2002 and 14 January this year.

Forbes was found guilty in 1958 of the murder of Edinburgh night watchman Allan Fisher during a robbery at a fish factory.

He was sentenced to death, but it was commuted to life imprisonment.

Forbes was freed in 1970, but six weeks later he stabbed a man during a pub brawl in Edinburgh.

A year later Forbes was dubbed Scotland's most dangerous man after escaping from the maximum security wing at Peterhead Prison.

He was recaptured and until his release in 1998 Forbes was one of Britain's longest serving prisoners.

His co-accused former taxi driver Scott Rennie, 33, of Mossvale Walk, Glasgow, who admitted being concerned in the supply of cocaine on one day was jailed for four years.