This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/8454827.stm
The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Version 0 | Version 1 |
---|---|
Four guilty of casino gun attack | Four guilty of casino gun attack |
(41 minutes later) | |
Four men have been found guilty of shooting a businessman in the head as he walked out of a casino in Edinburgh. | Four men have been found guilty of shooting a businessman in the head as he walked out of a casino in Edinburgh. |
Tony Demarco, 63, survived the murder attempt, which happened outside the Gala Maybury Casino in the west of the city on 3 June 2008. | |
Imran Sakur, 35, Jamie Robertson, 25, Craig Kelbie, 35, and Francis McGlone, 39, were all found guilty of conspiracy to murder, and attempted murder. | Imran Sakur, 35, Jamie Robertson, 25, Craig Kelbie, 35, and Francis McGlone, 39, were all found guilty of conspiracy to murder, and attempted murder. |
The verdict followed a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh. | The verdict followed a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh. |
The trial heard claims that one of the accused, Sakur, from Broughty Ferry in Tayside, had been a business associate of Mr Demarco, who ran a sandwich bar in Edinburgh and also acted as an agent for people buying and selling property. | |
As I went to open my car door I heard a bang and felt a thud behind my ear, my right ear Tony Demarco | |
Mr Demarco said he had given up any involvement in property interests in 2006 and had no business dealings with Sakur - although they had talked about the purchase of villas in Turkey. | |
He said he had gone to the casino that night to try to patch up a row between Sakur and another man over a business deal which had gone wrong. | |
The court was told that the plot to murder Mr Demarco began in April 2008 when Sakur approached Craig Kelbie, from Dundee, about recruiting others to make the hit. | |
He then approached Jamie Robertson and Francis McGlone, both from Paisley, to carry out the murder in return for payment. | |
'Dangerous men' | |
The jury heard how the pair took a gun to the casino where Robertson pulled the trigger. | |
During proceedings, Mr Demarco, from Danderhall, Midlothian, told jurors the bullet used to try and kill him was still lodged in his cheek and could not be removed because it was so close to his carotid artery and important nerves. | |
He described being gunned down as he returned to his car after a night out with friends. | |
He said: "As I went to open my car door I heard a bang and felt a thud behind my ear, my right ear. | |
"I turned. I tried to get away from the pain while clutching my head, then walked round the car to the pavement. I thought I had been assaulted." | |
Det Insp Bobby Deas, of Lothian and Borders Police, who led the investigation, said: "These individuals were engaged in a cold-blooded conspiracy to murder, and it is clear by their actions that they are dangerous men, with little regard for the sanctity of human life." | |
The men are due to be sentenced on 9 February. |