TWO masked gunmen who boasted that they were "untouchable" yesterday received the longest sentences ever passed in a Scottish court after they were found guilty of a gangland-style triple shooting.
Raymond Anderson and James McDonald armed themselves with handguns to blast Michael Lyons, 21, to death at the Applerow Motors MOT centre in Glasgow's Lambhill on the afternoon of 6 December, 2006.
They also left the victim's cousin, Steven L
yons, and his friend Robert Pickett badly injured. Judge Lord Hardie yesterday ordered the pair to spend a minimum of 35 years in jail – the longest "punishment part" of a life sentence ever handed down.
The Lockerbie bomber, Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, was ordered to serve a minimum of 30 years for the murder of the 270 people who died when Pan Am Flight 103 exploded on 21 December, 1988.
The High Court in Glasgow heard that the garage's owner, David Lyons – the uncle of two of the victims – received a "ransom note" ten days after the shooting, demanding £25,000 of unpaid drugs money. Despite that, the jury heard the attack by Anderson, 46, a car dealer, and McDonald, 34, his right-hand man, appeared to have no clear motive.
They were caught following a lengthy surveillance operation. Police traced phone calls and bugged cars to eavesdrop into hundreds of hours of their conversations.
The pair had denied charges of murder and attempted murder. They had also denied being linked to a cache of military weapons, including machine guns and ammunition, stolen from army barracks. But the jury returned guilty verdicts against both after nearly two-and-a half days of deliberations.
Mr Lyons, 48, told how he saw the hitmen – wearing "old men" masks and dark, three-quarter length coats – coming into his Balmore Road premises, which is near a special needs school.
Mr Lyons said he and Michael sprinted inside the garage pursued by one gunman, who was firing at his nephew. Steven and his friend Mr Pickett escaped in their car towards the back of the garage while being chased by the second gunman, who was also firing. Mr Lyons described how he heard Michael's screams and saw him fall to the ground.
He added: "I went to pick Michael up, but I saw the gun still pointing at us." Asked by David Young, the prosecutor, what his reaction was, Mr Lyons said: "I had to run." He told how he saw Steven's car "flying past" him and crash into a fence.
Eventually, when the gunmen ran away, Mr Lyons said he went back to Michael, who looked "ghastly". He added: "There was no colour in him. I knew there was no hope. Looking at him, I was sure he was dead."
Steven Lyons, 27, said the shooting was "like a scene from a gangster movie". He continued: "I got hit in the leg. It snapped my bone and I just fell." His leg was in plaster for several weeks and he had to have part of a bullet removed from his back.
The trial had twice collapsed, once because a juror recognised a witness and another time because a juror recognised one of the accused.
James McDonald's QC, Donald Findlay, asked Mr Lyons during one of the aborted hearings if he believed that his car had been the target that fateful day. Mr Lyons replied: "Probably."
During the same hearing, Mr Pickett claimed that the "wrong people" were in the dock.
The 41-year-old – once a feared member of a Paisley crime gang who was jailed for 12 years for attempted murder in the 1990s – was in a coma for a month and lost a kidney after being shot.
The court also heard that David Lyons received a "ransom note" that was delivered to his home ten days after the shooting. It read: "The boys owe me £25,000 and I want what's owed to me. It's for drugs. They all know what it's about as they have got to pay the piper."
The note added:
"Drop off, 4pm Saturday. I'll draw you a map and X will mark the spot."
Mr Lyons said he did not pay the money and handed the letter to the police.
Anderson and McDonald came under surveillance in the weeks after the shooting. The pair were later seen at a house in the city's Garthamlock, where the sister of Anderson's girlfriend lived. It was there that a machine gun, grenades and ammunition were later discovered.
The pair were eventually linked to three machine guns, a bipod, a telescopic sight, ammunition and flares that had been stolen from the Catterick Garrison army barracks in North Yorkshire in 2004.
Police also bugged their vehicles and listened in to chats the pair had, which eventually led to their arrest. McDonald told a female that he was "on the run", how he was going to get 15 years and referred to having three machine guns. He also claimed his "big mate" was found with 500 rounds of ammunition.
Anderson and McDonald were also heard calling themselves "the Untouchables" and talking about the mysterious "piper", who was mentioned in the letter sent to David Lyons.
Lord Hardie branded the shooting "a cold blooded, premeditated execution".
SECURITY IS STEPPED UPSECURITY at the High Court in Glasgow was heightened yesterday as the verdict was announced. Extra police patrolled the courtroom and corridors with more officers standing by outside.
Lord Hardie also ordered that McDonald and Anderson – who were flanked by four Reliance guards in the dock – be handcuffed.
The judge told the court that he agreed with Donald Findlay's closing remarks to the jury that "nothing in life is more serious than this, apart from terrorist activity".
Outside court, Detective Chief Superintendent Campbell Corrigan called the incident an "indiscriminate act of absolute barbarism".
The full article contains 975 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
