Killer turned artist Hugh Collins has died in his sleep weeks after his 70th birthday. Collins was found dead in his chair at his Borders’ home just over a week ago by a carer.
He had told friends after his beloved collie dog, Blackie, was put down just before his birthday that he would not be long in following him.
Collins emerged from prison in 1992 having served 16 years of a life sentence for the murder of gangland rival Willie Mooney.He admitted later he “carried the ghost of Willie Mooney on his back every day”.He also admitted after stabbing Mooney and looking into his eyes, knowing he was dying, that “I felt like a monster.”Collins had spent almost 10 years in young offenders’ institutions and jails before the life sentence, and was.