Article: Scandal of the killers and rapists picking up ?125 a week in benefits behind bars; STRANGLER: Karl Tonner killed a schoolgirl KILLER: Alexander Reid receives generous handouts CARSTAIRS: The State Hospital houses many dangerous patients.

Byline: Marcello Mega

SOME of Scotland's most notorious killers and sex offenders have been handed hundreds of pounds a week in benefits, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

Some inmates at the State Hospital at Carstairs receive more benefits than pensioners following a change of rules that came into force in June 2006.

The move saw patients detained under the Mental Health Act being treated as though they would otherwise be eligible for work, enabling three-quarters of the 172 patients detained at Carstairs to receive more than ?1 million in taxpayers' money.

Now inmates earning up to ?125 a week are splashing out on gifts for ...

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