A CONVICTED killer caught with two razor blades embedded in a red pen top claimed he used it to cut his toenails.

Andrew Milligan, who is serving life for a brutal murder in which he and two co-accused tried to sever their victim's head with a pair of garden shears, had hidden the homemade weapon under his pillow.

It was discovered during a search of his cell at HMP Low Moss, outside Bishopbriggs, last April.

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Prosecutor Mark Allan said: “Beneath his pillow was a red pen top with two razor blades embedded.

“He was asked to disclose why he had the item in his cell and he said it was to cut his toenails.”

Milligan, 40, who, is serving a life sentence for murdering David McMaster, 49, in 1998, was today sentenced to months after he admitted having two weapons in his cell.

The court heard that 17 days after the razor blades embedded in the pen top were found, another 'sharp object with a point” was discovered in his desk in his cell.

It was found by medical staff after Milligan claimed to be unwell.

Lawyer, Michael O’Neill, defending, told the court Milligan is due to appear before the parole board on Friday, but will state he does not want to be released from custody.

Sheriff Joan Kerr told Milligan: “I consider these to be a very serious offences because of the setting in which they were committed.

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“There is no disposal open to me other than a custodial sentence.”

He pleded guilty today at Glasgow Sheriff Court to possession of the two items.

In 1998 Milligan and two others poured boiling water over Mr McMaster before brutally stabbing him and attempting to sever his head with shears and a bread knife.

The trio set the then set the body on fire at his home in Paisley, Renfrewshire, and were later convicted of murder.