SENTENCING STATEMENTS
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HMA v Owen McKee
Jul 27, 2026
Upon sentencing, Lord Matthews made the following remarks:
"You pleaded guilty at a First Diet to a charge of assault by striking the complainer with a pen to his severe injury, permanent impairment, permanent disfigurement and the danger of his life.
"It was committed in Barlinnie Prison, where you were both inmates, which is a further aggravating feature.
"The assault was clearly pre-planned. You were seen lingering in the threshold of your cell waiting for the complainer and watching staff. When the complainer walked into view you attacked him from behind, striking him with the pen to, as it was narrated, the back of the head/side of the face.
"The incident was captured on CCTV, which I have viewed.
"The complainer had a small laceration at the end of his left eyebrow as well as swelling to his left temple and severe swelling to his left cheek. He was in considerable pain, could not open his mouth fully and bled substantially from the wound.
"An X-ray showed that the point of the pen was still lodged inside his eyebrow near an artery. It would require surgery to remove it but a decision has been taken not to do so, for various reasons. In follow up appointments it was found that the complainer was still in pain, thought to be from the trauma rather than the point of the pen itself.
"If the pen had taken a different path, it could have compromised major blood vessels, endangering the complainer’s life.
"I have considered the Justice Social Work Report and taken account of everything said by your counsel.
"It appears that there was some longstanding animosity between you and the complainer, according to you, some threats made against you by the complainer the night before. Because of these threats you made a pre-emptive strike. There is and was no excuse for this conduct, which could easily have had fatal consequences.
"You have a record which includes crimes of violence such as assault, assault to injury, attempted hamesucken with intent to rob, using a bottle, assault to injury and permanent disfigurement, using a sharp object, and assault to injury and robbery, the last of which resulted in imprisonment for 2 years with a Supervised Release Order. You have clearly had issues in your life with substance abuse and I hope that you will take the time, as your counsel says you wish to, to address these issues in custody and be able to make a fresh start on release.
"You are assessed as posing a maximum level of risk and because of that, your record and the serious nature of this offence, I propose to pass an extended sentence on you in order to protect the public from serious harm from you on your release. The sentence will be in two parts, a custodial term and an extension period during which you will be subject to licence conditions set by the Scottish Ministers. Breach of any of the conditions, or the commission of a further offence, may see you returned to prison to serve the remainder of the sentence.
"The custodial term will be 4 years and 6 months, reduced from 6 years to reflect the timing of your plea and the extension period will be 2 years.
"The sentence will run from 3 March of this year when you were remanded in custody."
27 July 2026