Richard Mullen, known as ‘Superned’, was sentenced to 18 months in prison after being found guilty of having homemade weapons in his cell in Addiewell Prison
A notorious criminal known as ‘Superned’ has been found guilty of possessing homemade weapons in prison but when sentenced in court for the fourth time he made a bizarre demand in the dock.
Richard Mullen had denied having two devices intended to inflict serious harm in his cell in Addiewell Prison’s Forth Wing on 14 July 2023. However, following a trial at Livingston Sheriff Court, a jury convicted him as charged.
During a search of Mullen’s single-occupancy cell in the West Lothian jail, the court heard that prison officers discovered a piece of plastic cutlery with a razor blade melted into it and a metal rod sharpened to a point with a shoelace wrapped around it.
Both improvised weapons were found on his mattress after wardens pulled back a duvet covering his bed. Mullen told them: “I prefer to use my fists but these are for my own protection.”
Speaking to the jury, he explained that he had been subjected to threats and assaults while incarcerated. Mullen informed jurors that he kept the weapons for self-defence because other inmates had “terrorised” him in his cell.
He questioned them: “If this is such a serious case why has it taken nearly three years to get to court?” He added: “Three years for ten minutes of evidence. I’ve spent seven years in prison and I’ve been assaulted and abused during my sentence”, reports Edinburgh Live.
He argued that he hadn’t received a fair trial because he didn’t want to represent himself but felt he had no other option. His solicitor was granted permission to withdraw following a disagreement with the accused over how his defence should be conducted.
He implored the jury to “order a retrial or drop the case”. Depute fiscal Kat Jagla put it bluntly to jurors: “The accused had these weapons for the sole purpose of inflicting violence on others. What other purpose would he have?”
It took the jury less than an hour to reach majority verdicts, finding Mullen guilty on two counts of possessing offensive weapons whilst behind bars.
The 34 year old Addiewell prisoner had previously been unsuccessful in challenging convictions for having offensive weapons at Perth Prison on three different occasions over a six-month spell between October 2020 and April 2021.
He’d been convicted of possessing a blade melted into cutlery on 18 October 2020, a sharpened piece of Perspex on 11 February 2021, and an open razor blade on 10 April 2021, receiving an 18-month prison sentence.
He’d argued there had been a miscarriage of justice as he’d been compelled to face trial without legal representation after sacking his solicitor and being unable to appoint another.
After the jury delivered its latest verdicts at Livingston, Sheriff Chloe Miller handed Mullen an additional 18-month prison term, to run back-to-back with his existing sentences.
Mullen queried the sheriff: “Is that it?” before turning to his custody officer escorts and instructing them: “Take me downstairs. I want to have my dinner.”
