Murderers Charles O'Neill and William Lauchlan lose 'hurt feelings' case

O'Neill and Lauchlan murdered Alison McGarrigle and dumped her body at sea

Two paedophiles who murdered a woman who threatened to expose them have lost a compensation claim over a lack of contact with each other in prison.

Charles O'Neill and William Lauchlan are serving life terms in different prisons for killing Allison McGarrigle.

They claimed a lack of contact breached their human rights and each sought £35,000 in damages for hurt feelings.

A judge said the couple's rights had not been breached as their relationship was based on abusing children.

O'Neill, 51, is detained in Edinburgh's Saughton prison and 37-year-old Lauchlan is held in Glenochil jail in Clackmannanshire.

Their repeated requests to be allowed to see each other through inter-prison visits and maintain contact via letters and telephone calls, have been declined by prison authorities.

'Sufficient contact'

They brought a judicial review stating that Scottish ministers had failed to provide them with "suitable and sufficient contact" with each other.

They argued that the Scottish government failed to respect their rights under Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR), which provides protection for private and family life.

They also claimed they had been discriminated against on the basis of their sexual orientation.

They said they were in "a long-standing intimate and sexual relationship" before being imprisoned after their trial in 2010.

The men murdered Allison McGarrigle, who intended to report them for abuse

Both sought damages of £35,000, claiming they were entitled to an award for "hurt feelings" among other things.

In his judgement, Lord Stewart said he had decided that the Scottish Prison Service had not acted unlawfully towards the murderers and had not discriminated against them and that they were not entitled to damages.

Lord Stewart said the case was not about conjugal visits which are not permitted in British jails.

The judge said: "It is a dangerous thing, I accept, to pass judgement on the value of someone else's family life. Sometimes it has to be done."

'Negative relationship'

"In this case I feel justified in saying that the life Charles O'Neill and William Lauchlan have had together when at liberty since 1993, to the extent evidenced to me, is so negative that it cannot be 'family life' as that concept should be understood.

"Their relationship and relations between each other do not engage, do not attract the support of, do not merit the protection of the 'family life' provisions of Article 8 ECHR."

O'Neill was sentenced to at least 30 years in prison, while accomplice Lachlan was sentenced to a minimum of 26 years after they were found guilty of murdering 39-year-old Mrs McGarrigle in Largs, Ayrshire, in 1997.

Her body, which they disposed of at sea, was not found.

They were also sentenced for sex abuse offences following two trials.