A gangster has been spared another jail sentence after spitting on the face of a prison guard.
Sean ‘Lugs’ McGovern was serving 16 years for heroin dealing and a pub shooting when he assaulted the officer at HMP Shotts in Lanarksire.
A court heard on Thursday that the thug was depressed after his home leave was cancelled for his own safety following an attack on him in Edinburgh city centre.
He was slashed by two men in broad daylight as he waited for a bus to take him back to prison in July 2016.
McGovern was attacked in front of terrified tourists just 100 yards from Princes Street and the five-star Balmoral Hotel.
The musclebound hardman was left covered in blood but still chased the hitmen as they fled.
Ex-soldier David Togher was later jailed for six years for the attack.
McGovern was originally jailed in 2009 for dealing heroin and for firing a shotgun at an Edinburgh pub in a warning to a rival.
The thug fired two rounds from a shotgun outside the Gauntlet Bar in Broomhouse in 2008.
It was a warning to rival Jamie Hyland , a regular at the pub. McGovern got six years and nine months for the gun attack and 10 years for running a heroin empire in Edinburgh.
In his latest court appearance, McGovern, 35, of Edinburgh , admitted assaulting prison guard Mark Cunningham by spitting on his face in a segregation unit at Shotts in November 2018.
An allegation that he uttered threats of violence was dropped.
Solicitor Diarmid Bruce said McGovern suffered significant slash wounds when he was attacked in the street.
He explained: “His home leave was cancelled, presumably for his own safety, which upset him as his partner was pregnant with his child.
“At the time of this offence, prison officers had decided to put him in segregation.
“He was depressed and struggling to cope with life.”
Bruce said McGovern has since been released from prison and is “doing well” under a five-year supervision order.
He added: “His partner has her own business and supports the family while he looks after the child.”
Sheriff Douglas Brown ordered McGovern to carry out 80 hours of unpaid community work within four months.
