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AXE killer Thomas McCulloch cannot be housed in Scotland after every council in the country rejected a deal to accommodate him.

Justice secretary Kenny MacAskill revealed the crisis as he met the family of one of Carstairs butcher McCulloch's victims.

McCulloch murdered nurse Neil MacLellan and two others during a 1976 breakout attempt at the State Hospital in Carstairs with Robert Mone.

Mr MacAskill met Neil's relatives at the Scottish parliament on Thursday amid fears McCulloch was about to be freed from Noranside prison, near Forfar.

Neil's son John, 54, said: "Mr MacAskill said he and McCulloch's own local authority had made representations to other councils in Scotland to broker a deal to take McCulloch.

"They desperately want to avoid the scenes that erupted last time McCulloch got out. But no one else is prepared to even consider taking him.

"McCulloch plays the part of an old, harmless man with his walking stick, greying beard and hat. But he is a dangerous psychopath and that never changes.

"We were told there have been frenzied moves behind the scenes to find him a home but no one wants him anywhere near their patch."

The Sunday Mail revealed McCulloch was secretly living in a house in Dumbarton in September last year.

Angry neighbours, who had not been warned by authorities, demanded he be moved.

Social workers are now trying to find another location where he can continue his preparation for release despite psychiatric reports warning he is at risk of reoffending.

West Dunbartonshire Council bosses said they were legally obliged to house McCulloch on his release from jail.

John added: "They have to place him somewhere in Scotland so I suggested a place. It is called Rockall, a wee place in the Atlantic Ocean.

"But Mr MacAskill said they didn't have proper back-up facilities there."

John and his mother Marion, 82, have called for a judicial review to keep McCulloch and Mone locked up.

Last night, a Scottish government spokesman said: "The justice secretary spoke about the difficulties all local authorities face in housing high-profile prisoners if they are released.

"Scottish ministers cannot comment on individual cases but Mr MacAskill will be pleased to set these matters out in writing to Mr MacLellan."