A CONVICTED murderer who escaped from a work placement scheme in Edinburgh after saying he was "going to do a runner" has been sentenced to a further 18 months in prison.

David Back 23, was working at the Broomhouse Centre from Saughton Prison in September.

He was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2001 after being convicted of torturing and murdering James McArthur, 27, in Kirkcaldy, along with two other men, in June 2000.

At Edinburgh Sheriff Court yesterday Back, from Fife, admitted attempting absconding from his work placement. Back told a person he was working with at the Broomhouse Centre: "I am going to do a runner".

His remark was treated as a joke, but at lunchtime, it was discovered he had gone missing. He was recaptured five days later.

Defence agent James Litterick told Sheriff Charles Stoddart that Back had been 16 at the time of the murder and his two co-accused had been considerably older.

He had just turned 17when he was jailed for life. Mr Litterick said Back had never caused any problems in prison and had been making steady progress within the system.

He had been due to be considered for parole in 2008. Back, he added, had been under pressure to bring "things" into prison while out on work placement.