A MURDERER has been given public money to fund a legal bid to have sex with his wife while in prison.

Kevin Gibson, who is serving a life sentence for killing a friend and dumping his body in a suitcase, claims that the refusal of the prison service to let him enjoy conjugal visits with his wife breaches his human rights.

The killer has now been given access to taxpayers' money to pay for lawyers to prepare his case.

Gibson's case has prompted one other prisoner to begin a similar court case.

David Hines, of campaign group the National Victims' Association, said: "We need to stop this nonsense about giving rights to prisoners and not to victims. This particular case is absolutely outrageous."

Gibson is serving his sentence at Addiewell Prison, West Lothian.

In prison he rekindled his relationship with former girlfriend Louise Kennedy then married her last year at a service held in the jail.

They applied for legal aid in the summer to argue that they had a human right to a family life.

They argue they are entitled to be given either free IVF fertility treatment or else conjugal visits.

Now the Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB) has confirmed that taxpayers' money has been given to the couple for "advice and assistance", meaning their lawyers, Taylor & Kelly from Coatbridge, can begin to prepare the case they will later argue in court.

A SLAB spokesman said: "When considering the grounds for approving a legal aid application of this kind we look at whether there are fundamental human rights issues that have not been heard before in a Scottish court."