A BRUTAL killer has been given legal aid to seek compensation after he sliced off part of his thumb in a jail workshop.

Hugh Pollock, 37, from Clydebank, is claiming £50,000 from the Scottish Executive. He's already dropped one court action, failing in a £20,000 compensation claim for falling down prison stairs.

He's now been given taxpayers' cash to make a new claim, despite admitting he failed to put a safety cover in place while making a rocking horse.

The gangland enforcer claims staff in Perth Prison should have told him to put the cover on.

His claim includes a sum for loss of prison wages. He couldn't carry out manual work behind bars, which would have earned him £12 a week. Instead he received £4 a week.

He's also claiming for loss of earnings after his release in May 2008. He had planned to work as a bricklayer.

Pollock is serving a life sentence in HM Gateside, Greenock, for killing a murder trial witness.

He was in Perth Prison at the time of the accident, on December 10, 2003. While using a power saw to make parts for a rocking horse, he slipped, and as he fell forward, his left thumb was caught by the blade.

He later needed surgery to trim the bone.

He said the Scottish Ministers - as operators of Scotland's prisons - had "a duty of care" to keep prisoners safe while locked up.

In response to the claim, solicitors for the Scottish Executive say the accident was "caused by Pollock's negligence".

Pollock, who is due to be released in May 2008, will have the case heard at Perth Sheriff Court next month.

Last year he tried to claim £20,000 after tumbling down a flight of stairs in the jail, arguing he should have been given a ground-floor cell.

He didn't get legal aid for the action and later dropped the bid.