AN Iraq war hero serving a life sentence for murdering a Bangladeshi waiter was given a further five years today for trying to flee court after the verdict and stashing weapons in a car.
Michael Ross, 30, vaulted the dock and fled the room after he was convicted at the High Court in Glasgow on June 20 of shooting Shamsuddin Mahmood in an Orkney restaurant 14 years ago.
Ross had a hire car parked about three miles away in which he
had stashed a Scorpion machine pistol, a hand grenade and ammunition.
The former Black Watch sergeant later told police he had planned to take to the hills and live rough if convicted, using the gun for hunting and the grenade for fishing.
Today at the High Court in Glasgow he pleaded guilty to trying to defeat the ends of justice by trying to escape custody, and admitted three breaches of the Firearms Act 1968 and one of the Explosive Substances Act 1883.
Sentencing Ross, Lord Brailsford said: "I have been given no adequate explanation for the reason that these crimes were committed.
"You had a distinguished career in Her Majesty's armed forces and served this country well and truly for a number of years.
"Despite that, you committed these shocking crimes."
He jailed Ross for two years for fleeing the court, four years each for possession of the machine pistol and the hand grenade, and five years each for possession of the pistol and 542 cartridges without a firearms certificate.
He will serve the sentences concurrently, meaning that he will serve a five-year sentence.
This will start after he has served the sentence he is currently serving for murdering Mr Mahmood, which is a minimum of 25 years.
Ross was tackled by court staff, who prevented him from leaving the building.
The full article contains 310 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
