Kenny Reilly murder: Four men found guilty of gangland 'execution' - BBC News
Kenny Reilly, 29, died two days after he was shot in the head in Maryhill, Glasgow, in April 2018.
Kenny Reilly was murdered in the Maryhill area of Glasgow in April 2018

Four men have been found guilty of the "planned execution" of a man as he sat in a car at a set of traffic lights.

John Kennedy, 41, shot 29-year-old Kenny Reilly in the Maryhill area of Glasgow in April 2018.

His co-accused Morton Eadie, 56, his son Darren Eadie and Ross Fisher, both 30, were also found guilty of murder.

All four were jailed for life. Kennedy must serve at least 26 years, Darren Eadie at least 24 years, and Morton Eadie and Fisher at least 22 years.

Kennedy was also accused of the murder of Jamie Campbell in March 2006 but the case against him was found not proven.

The verdicts came after a three-month trial at the High Court in Edinburgh.

The judge Lord Beckett said that people who were "prepared to engage in such meticulously planned and ruthlessly perpetrated assassination on the streets of our cities can expect substantial punishment".

The court heard Mr Reilly's murder was linked to a feud between rival factions in the Possilpark and Maryhill areas of Glasgow.

Detectives believe he was killed because Kennedy and his accomplices thought he was responsible for assaulting their friend, Ryan McAteer.

And the court also heard claims Mr Reilly owed £100,000 to a high-profile criminal.

Kennedy told another inmate in Barlinnie that he had carried out the attack

One of the key witnesses in the trial said Kennedy had confessed to the killings while in prison.

Kevin McGinn, who shared a cell with Kennedy in Glasgow's Barlinnie Prison for 11 days in October 2018, said he had "whispered in my ear and said to me 'it was me'."

He told police that Kennedy had said the attack was over "drugs and money".

Mr Reilly was a passenger in a BMW being driven by his friend Emma MacDougall when he was targeted at about 22:20 on 16 April.

The pair were travelling to a Chinese restaurant and had stopped at traffic lights at the junction at Bilsland Drive and Maryhill Road.

Ms MacDougall, 25, told the court a black Ford S-Max car pull up on the right hand lane.

She recalled: "Somebody came out of the back seats wearing all black - a black balaclava - and started shooting at my car.

"I don't think I have any words for it. It was every single emotion ever. I didn't know whether to drive - I know I needed to phone the police, I knew I needed to phone an ambulance.

"I was trying to remain calm because I knew Kenny had obviously suffered a severe injury."

Police at the scene of the attack in Maryhill

Mr Reilly died in hospital two days later from a single gunshot to the head.

His attackers sped off to Craigieburn Gardens in Maryhill, where they set the car on fire.

But forensic experts found Fisher's DNA on the wreckage and the breakthrough helped officers narrow the list of suspects.

The court heard that when Kennedy was arrested in May 2018 he owned a phone which contained Encrochat software.

The secure, encrypted messaging app which was mainly used by members of organised crime gangs to plan schemes.

Police also learned that Ryan McAteer had been seriously assaulted on 8 April 2018.

Police at the scene of Kenny Reilly's murder in Maryhill

The jury was told that Darren Eadie blamed Mr Reilly, who was described in court as a "Possil boy", for the attack.

Police uncovered evidence which showed that Darren Eadie had started planning a revenge attack for which he recruited his father Morton, Ross Fisher and John Kennedy.

Officers recovered a mobile phone from Mr McAteer and found a number of incriminating messages in a WhatsApp group in which he and Darren Eadie had participated.

Detectives found that the accused were in regular contact with each other in the days leading up to the fatal attack on Mr Reilly, but that the calls stopped afterwards.

On the day Mr Reilly died in hospital, Kennedy and his partner flew to Jamaica for a two-week holiday. In the following days Darren and Morton Eadie both left the country.

The jury heard this was an attempt to avoid police attention.

Prosecutor Steven Borthwick said the evidence showed that Darren Eadie organised the plot, Morton Eadie acted as the getaway driver, Fisher stole the S-Max and set fire to it following the murder, and Kennedy was the gunman.

He described Mr Reilly's death as "a planned execution, brazenly carried out in the street in a residential area of Glasgow".

All four were found guilty of murder and of attempting to defeat the ends of justice by setting fire to the car used in the attack. The offences were aggravated by a connection with serious organised crime.

Det Supt Stevie Wallace sad it had been a "long, complex and challenging" police investigation.

"Kenny Reilly left behind a family who has sought answers on how and why their loved one was killed," he said.

"Although he cannot be brought back, I hope this result will bring some comfort to his family and friends."

Jamie Campbell was shot dead in Drumchapel in 2006

As detectives built their case against Kennedy, they believed they had made a breakthrough in an unsolved murder from March 2006.

Six spent bullets were found at the scene, which contained the DNA from three different people. Analysis found that one of the forensic profiles may belong to Kennedy.

A white burned-out Fiat Ducato van which was found near where Mr Campbell was shot contained items which had Kennedy's DNA on them.

His lawyers claimed Glasgow gangster Kevin "Gerbil" Carroll, who was shot dead in an Asda car park in Robroyston, Glasgow in 2010, had been responsible for Mr Campbell's murder.

The court heard that police had investigated the claims at the time, and that Carroll gave a statement to officers denying any involvement.

But the jury concluded that the case against Kennedy was not proven.