Meehan v. Beltrami in case of Deadly Innocence | HeraldScotland

Survivor relives day 50 years ago when gunman ran amok in Glasgow and shot him playing on swings – Daily Record

James Griffiths | Glesga Keelies Message Board

1960s Nutters in Glasgow – James Griffiths – General West End Chat – Pat’s Guide to Glasgow West End

The Round Toll Bar Possil

Patrick Meehan – Peterman.org.uk

A madman on the rampage – Daily Record

WolfieWiseGuy: James Griffiths – Demented Gunman

Wikipedia – Glasgow

Wikipedia – special_defence

The Griffiths Incident – 15 July 1969 – Glasgow Police Museum

Famed defence lawyer Joe Beltrami dies at 83 – Law Society of Scotland

The Ferris Conspiracy: Amazon.co.uk: Ferris, Paul, McKay, Reg: 9781840183887: Books

A Presumption of Innocence: The Amazing Case of Patrick Meehan: Amazon.co.uk: Kennedy, Ludovic: 9780575020726: Books

Deadly Innocence: Amazon.co.uk: Beltrami, Joseph: 9781851582976: Books

Scottish Murders is a production of Cluarantonn

Hosted by Dawn and Cole

Researched and Written by Dawn Young

Produced and Edited by Dawn Young and Peter Bull

Production Company Name by Granny Robertson

Music:

Dawn of the Fairies by Derek & Brandon Fiechter

Gothic Wedding by Derek & Brandon Fiechter

Cole:

Warning Wee Ones, this episode contains some strong language.

Murder, a shooting spree and a royal pardon. Nobody could have predicted the shocking events that took place in Glasgow, that all started with a murder in a town 40 miles away.

Dawn and Cole:

Hi wee ones, I’m Cole and I’m Dawn, and this is Scottish Murders.

[THEME TUNE]

CRIME DIVERS PODCAST PROMOTION

Cole:

On Tuesday the 15th of July 1969, James Griffiths went on a shooting spree lasting about two hours, which started in the west of Glasgow and ended up in an area in the northeast of the city. What started as a misunderstanding created a domino effect, that might otherwise not have been if it were not for a cruel and heinous robbery and a murder that had happened on the 6th of July 1969. This case is still being talked about on the streets of Glasgow today by those that remember the terror of the day or through stories passed down by family members. Today, Glasgow has a diverse architectural scene and is the fifth most visited city in the UK. Glasgow is situated on the River Clyde which is host to an abundance of futuristic looking buildings, including the SEC Armadillo. The population is estimated at over 611,000. In 1969 however, the Glasgow streets were known for their bloodshed due to gangs such as the Cumbie and the Tongs, but nobody was prepared for what happened on an otherwise quiet Tuesday morning. James Griffiths was brought up in Rochdale, Greater Manchester in England, and from an early age he was involved in crime, later turning to armed robbery and safe blowing by the age of 13. James was in and out of young offenders centres as a child, and as an adult he frequented prison. However, even though James was a time-served criminal, he was not respected by his fellow cons, mainly because he would spend his time in prison boasting about his crimes and saying things like one day he’d use a gun on the police and that he would never be taken alive. He wasn’t taken seriously and just thought to be all talk. After being caught and arrested for yet another crime, James was sent to HMP Parkhurst prison, which is a high security prison on the Isle of Wight off the south coast of England. Here he shared a cell with two Scots; Archibald Hall, who went on to become a serial killer known as the killer butler, and Paddy Meehan. Meehan was a top safe cracker and friend to Arthur Thompson, who the media dubbed The Godfather. Neither could be bothered with James and his usual boasting ways, until that is James managed to escape from HMP Parkhurst and get off the island, spending the ferry crossing chatting to a prison warden and his wife.

Dawn:

Did the prison guard not recognise him? Was he still in his prison clothes?

Cole:

It’s presumed that James had somehow changed from his prison clothes into civilian clothes, or at least had a coat on to cover his prison gear.

Dawn:

Okay.

Cole:

James was, however, captured again a few hours later on the mainland and brought back to Parkhurst, where he suddenly had a friend in Meehan, who invited him to Glasgow when he was released in early 1969, presumably for criminal activity as they were both safe crackers. Whatever the reason, this would prove to be a massive mistake by Meehan, one he would pay for dearly. James took Meehan up on the offer to come to Glasgow once he was released. On Sunday the 6th of July 1969, the two set out for a town called Stranraer, which is about 88 miles or 141 kilometres Southwest of Glasgow, to scope out a post office there that they had wanted to rob. On the way to Stranraer, Meehan and James would have passed through a town called Ayr, which is just under halfway between Glasgow and Stranraer, and it just so happened that the same night two men were breaking into the Ayr home of a wealthy elderly couple, Abraham Ross and his 72 year old wife Rachel, to steal their valuables. These two men tied up the couple before disgustingly assaulting and torturing them until they revealed where their valuables were. Mrs Ross had been bludgeoned so badly that she had sustained horrific head injuries from which she died. Abraham Ross was tied up and he had to lie beside his wife for a further 24 hours before being found.

Dawn:

Oh no, that’s horrible.

Cole:

It really is. And this murder shocked and scandalised Scotland.

Dawn:

I can understand why.

Cole:

Now, as Meehan was very well known to the police they frequently kept an eye on him, and they knew that Meehan was in the vicinity of Ayr that night, so he was arrested and taken in for questioning. On Monday the 14th of July 1969, eight days after the horrific murder, an identity parade was set up and a very frail and grief-stricken Abraham Ross identified Meehan as being the man that had broken into his house that night.

Dawn:

What?!

Cole:

There’s more. Abraham had also reported to the police that the robbers had addressed each other as Pat and Jim. Both the identity parade and the evidence was later stated by Meehan and others to have been set up by the police.

Dawn:

Oh okay.

Cole:

So, Meehan was in a bit of trouble. He knew he didn’t do what he was being accused of, but he’d been up to no good with James that night. Meehan didn’t want to point the finger at James and use him as an alibi, something to do with the criminal code, and James wasn’t coming forward by himself. When it became clear that Meehan was facing a murder charge he eventually gave the police James’ name as an alibi, and said that he was staying at 29 Holyrood Crescent in Glasgow’s West End under the name of Mr Douglas. Meehan was released from custody while the police spoke to James about providing him an alibi. The police knew that James, now 34, had a criminal record for armed robbery and safe cracking, so they sent five plain clothes detectives to question James about providing Meehan an alibi, at his flat in Holyrood Crescent on the morning of Tuesday the 15th of July 1969. They could not have imagined in their wildest dreams exactly what was about to unfold in front of them. Now, from his flat, James saw the detectives arriving. He heard them climbing the stairs of the block of flats and knock repeatedly at his door. They received no answer. The detectives knew that James was home and upon getting no answer they broke the door down, coming face to face with James screaming, swearing and firing a sawn off shotgun at them.

Dawn:

Shit!

Cole:

The detectives ran for the stairs but a shot caught one detective, DC William Walker who was 28, square in the back, sending him tumbling down the stairs. James barricaded himself in the flat, and going from window to window took shots at anyone that had the misfortune of being near his flat at the time, including Samuel Collins who was 65, Mary McKinnon who was 46 and Jack Kerr who was 22. All had been short but thankfully survived their injuries. Now, apparently a lady who lived just along from where the shooting was taking place was up a ladder decorating her front door. At first she didn’t pay any attention to the gunfire, maybe just a normal Tuesday for her. It wasn’t until a bullet embedded itself right next to her in the wall that she decided that maybe she had better get inside out the way. James would have known that if he was to continue to keep the police at bay, then he would need more ammunition, so he made his way down to his car, undetected, and from the boot of his car he retrieved a sniper’s hunting rifle and bullets, before heading back to his flat and continuing to shoot at anything or anyone in the vicinity, including the ever-increasing police presence with their bulletproof shields and police marksmen. There’s actually a picture of James at the window of his flat in Holyrood with his rifle in his hand taking shots at everyone below, which I’ll put on our website. It’s really eerie to see it now. The street would have been in complete panic with gunfire raining down onto the street, and people below screaming and running to escape. The police were just about ready to move in with tear gas when suddenly there was silence. The police below looked at each other perplexed. Had James given up?

Dawn:

Well had he?

Cole:

No. James had escaped his flat through an attic window and made his way down into an alley behind the flat. The next sighting of James was on Henderson Street, about a six minute leisurely stroll from his flat, although I doubt he would have been strolling, I think he would have been running.

Dawn:

I think he might have been.

Cole:

Here he came across a 57 year old salesman, James Kerr, in his car, who probably just stopped to find out the details of the next client he was going to visit. He hadn’t seen James approach, so he was a bit taken aback when a dark-haired frenzied man with a bandolier of bullets across his chest loomed over him, with a rifle in one hand and a shotgun in the other. His surprise rapidly turned to fear as James raised his gun and fired a shot through the car window, deafening Kerr, before pulling him out of his car and speeding off in it.

Dawn:

Was Kerr shot as well?

Cole:

Yeah, James Kerr had been shot on his left shoulder, but thankfully he survived the shooting.

Dawn:

Oh good.

Cole:

As James drove manically about the nearby streets, he continued to shoot at passers by, and unfortunately shot at and grazed 24 year old John Curry’s ear in Napier’s Hall Street. He also shot Ian Watson who was 23 in Great Western Road, and shot at Robert McAdam, who was 57, in Barrington Drive. Again, thankfully, although they would have been in an absolute shock and disbelief, these men survived their injuries. Obviously, James found it quite difficult to drive while firing shorts at pedestrians as he passed them, as after only driving the stolen car for about three miles or just under five kilometres he crashed it. Unfortunately he was unhurt and he ran to the nearest pub, which was The Round Toll on Possil Road. Now, pubs in the area were used to a bit of trouble, but I think this was even a step up for this pub. Once in the pub James waved his rifle around, firing two shots into the ceiling and yelling “Don’t Mess! I’ve got a gun, I’m gonna stick you up!” Bang, bang, bang, bang. bang!

Dawn:

(laughs) You fuc*ing idiot. What did he really say, Cole?

Cole:

“Don’t mess! I’ve shot two coppers already.” He then helped himself to a bottle of brandy and proceeded to gulp it down, while the punters looked on terrified. A 65 year old man called William Hughes happened to move slightly, causing James to turn around and shoot him twice. William died a few days later from his wounds.

Dawn:

No!

Cole:

Yeah. It was really unfortunate.

Dawn:

Oh poor man.

Cole:

The bar manager, James Connolly, was having no more of this. He had tolerated James helping himself to a drink, but when he picked on his customers he stepped over the line for the bar manager. The bar manager shouted at James “You dirty bastard! What did you do that for?! He was just an old man.”

Dawn:

Oh I love this man.

Cole:

He then grabbed James by the scruff of his neck and forcibly threw him out of the pub, dumping him on the pavement, before turning on his heels and walking back into the pub.

Dawn:

Yay!

Cole:

Usually in Scotland you get oxtered out of the club.

Dawn:

Is that true?

Cole:

Yeah.

Dawn:

I’ve never heard of that.

Cole:

Yeah. They put their hands under your armpits and oxter you out of the club.

Dawn:

Oh. No, I did not know that.

Cole:

I saw Billy Connolly talking about it once. Do you want to explain what an oxter is?

Dawn:

Oh, it’s your armpit.

Cole:

It’s the Scottish word for your armpit. James Connolly, the bar manager, was recognized for his bravery and received the Glasgow Corporation Medal for Bravery for his heroism. So well deserved. What an amazing guy for protecting his punters.

Dawn:

I’m so glad that he was recognised for doing that. That was pretty amazing.

Cole:

Yeah. Really brave. No doubt James wasn’t too happy about being dumped outside on the pavement, and probably fully intended to march back into the pub and finish the job he started. However, another brave passer-by had seen James wielding a gun and a rifle and decided to tackle him outside the pub. Unfortunately, the man was unsuccessful and was left wounded in struggle. By this time the police had heard the shots being fired and were in pursuit. James would have heard the sirens getting closer, so now he was looking for his next mode of transport to escape. It just so happened that a lorry driven by John Craig had pulled up nearby the pub when he heard what he thought was an explosion. He certainly didn’t expect to see a man wielding a rifle and a shotgun, firing shots at him, while running in his direction on a Tuesday morning. John, thankfully, had quick reactions and was out of his cab sprinting away to take shelter behind a lamppost as fast as he could, with James taking a final shot at him and thankfully missing, before he jumped in his lorry and sped away.

Dawn:

I’m sorry, he hid behind a lamppost?

Cole:
Yes, he hid behind a lamppost, he must have been a very skinny gentleman. So, James, in his newly acquired lorry, continued to shoot at unsuspecting pedestrians as he flew down street after street, this time hitting Peter Patterson who was 39 in Possil Road. James wasn’t that familiar with the city but he probably would have thought that as long as he could hear the sirens of the police then he could avoid them, changing his direction and just keeping one step ahead of them. This might have been a good strategy if he’d known the area, however, he ended up in the Springburn area of Glasgow, about a 1.5 mile or 2.4 kilometre drive from The Round Toll Pub. He hurled the lorry into Kay Street and slammed on the brakes, he had reached a dead end. He then jumped down from the lorry cab, with his shotgun and rifle in hand, and made his way to 26 Kay Street, where he broke into the top floor flat. There have been two different reports about what he found when he broke into this flat; one version is that the tenants, Valerie Boyd who was 21 and her young daughter, were inside the flat.  It was reported that Valerie had been shot but not fatally, before they managed to escape the flat. The second version is the flat was in fact empty when James broke.  I’m not sure which version is true,  either way nobody was killed. James then went from window to window in the flat in Kay Street, from the back to the front of the flat, again firing at anyone that happened to be in the vicinity. Unfortunately, situated at the back of the flat and within shooting distance was a children’s playground where many children were enjoying being out and about in the sunshine, as it was the school holidays. James’ shots managed to hit an eight-year-old boy, called Peter Traynor, in the stomach, but thankfully it was only superficial, still traumatic though. And also a mother called Mrs Irene Reid, who was shot in the leg. The police eventually did manage to get all of the terrified and crying children and their mothers out of harms way. The police had by this time surrounded the whole flat, back and front, so there was at least no chance of James slipping out through a back alley this time. The police also by this time realised just what they were dealing with and a phone call was made to the Army asking for help. In the confusion a baby in a pram had been left on Kay Street and bullets were fired around the pram. I really can’t imagine why the pram with a baby in it had been left in the streets, in the line of fire, when a gunman was firing shots, but thankfully the baby was not hit and a brave policeman crawled out from safety, grabbed the baby and it was passed safely into a ground floor flat. Hopefully, afterwards, Child Services were also called.

Dawn:

(laughs) Can you imagine though. You’re just walked along the street, and you’re like, gunfire, I know what  I’ll do. (laughs) I’m just leaving this thing here, fu*k it. It’ll be fine.

Cole:

Fu*k this baby.

Dawn:
Didn’t like it anyway.

Cole:

Also walking down Kay Street, unaware of what was about to happen, was a man who had just come out of hospital where he’d been recovering from a knife attack. James shot this poor man in the neck. Someone else who had been in the wrong place at the wrong time was a couple who had only just got married, Irene Reed, who was an 18 year old, was hit, and her new husband was so angry that the police had to jump on him and hold him back as he ran towards James and his shotgun.

Dawn:

Oh don’t mess with his woman eh?

Cole:

Exactly. So, with the shooting spree now having been going on for almost two hours, and shots still being fired from every room of the flat above, endangering everyone below, and with no end in sight, the daunting task of stopping James was given to two brave police officers, Chief Superintendent Malcolm Finlayson and Detective Sergeant Ian Smith. They both armed themselves with revolvers and made their way undetected to the flat, slowly and quietly going up the stairs. When they got to the front door of the flat Finlayson opened the letterbox so that you could see inside. However, the metal squeaked on being opened and gave them away to James inside.

Dawn:

Oh no.

Cole:

On finding out that the police were at the door of the flat he raised his rifle and came running towards the door. Knowing James would be more than likely to shoot them if they didn’t do something, Finlayson placed the barrel of his gun through the letterbox and fired once, hitting James in the shoulder. James fell to the floor and the two men instantly came through the door and surrounded him. They kicked his guns away and carried him downstairs to their waiting colleagues. However, on reaching the street, James had died from his wounds. Apparently, the bullet had gone into James’s shoulder, ricocheting off a bone and sliced through his aorta artery, the main artery of the heart. Later, a pathologist said the path the bullet had taken was a chance in a thousand. The frenzied shooting spree was finally over, but not before James had shot a hundred bullets, injured 12 people and killed one, William Hughes. James was the first wanted man on record to be shot dead by Scottish police. James was given a paupers funeral and lies in Linn Cemetery in Glasgow. Chief Superintendent Malcolm Finlayson and Detective Sergeant Ian Smith both received the Glasgow Corporation Medal for Bravery, and were given the British Empire Medal by the Queen at Buckingham Palace. Finlayson apparently got to keep the actual gun that he shot James with when he retired in 1971, and he kept it in a box at his home on the Isle of Skye until he died in 1994 at the age of 83.

Dawn:

Good for them, I’m glad they both got recognised for what they did.

Cole:

Yeah, me too. So the story doesn’t actually end there, because we still haven’t had justice for Rachel Ross.

Dawn:

Oh my God, yes! I’d totally forgotten about why this had all started.

Cole:

Yeah, well, a lot has happened since then.

Dawn:

Yeah, it has.

Cole:

So, after James’s shooting spree, the police took this as an act of guilt, and in their minds that meant Meehan was guilty of the murder of Rachel Ross too. So, Meehan was immediately arrested and charged.

Dawn:

I don’t quite follow their thinking there, but, okay.

Cole:

I guess they couldn’t really know because James had died and hadn’t got a chance to say why he did what he did.

Dawn:

Yeah. So, they’ve just made an assumption.

Cole:

Yes. Meehan went to trial on the 24th of October 1969, where he submitted a defence of incrimination, claiming that the murder had actually been committed by another man named Ian Waddell.

Dawn:

What does defence of incrimination mean?

Cole:

So, it just means that he was alleging someone else had committed the crime, Ian Waddle.

Dawn:

Ah, I see, okay.

Cole:

Meehan knew of Waddell due to their crime world connections, so I’m assuming he was given Waddell’s name by one of his associates. However, despite this, Meehan was found guilty by a majority verdict of the murder of Rachel Ross and received a life sentence.

Dawn:

Okay, but I thought that he was somewhere else that night?

Cole:

Well, that is what he maintained, but obviously because Abraham Ross identified him they thought that it was an open and shut case, but not everybody agreed.

Dawn:

Hmm I can see why.

Cole:

Meehan spent his time in prison in solitary confinement and continued to proclaim his innocence from prison. He continued to appeal and assert that he was the victim of police framing, specifically stating that the identity parade had been rigged and the evidence had been suppressed that pointed to others haven’t actually committed the murder. This was backed up by journalist and broadcaster Ludovic Kennedy, Meehan’s advocate at the trial Nicholas Fairbairn, and others, who all suspected that there had indeed been a miscarriage of justice.  Also, in Kennedy’s book in 1975, he puts forward two names that were likely to be the killers; Ian Waddell and William Tank McGuinness.

Dawn:

Okay, he’s new.

Cole:

He is new. With the support of Kennedy, Fairbairn and Joe Beltrami, Meehan solicitor at the time of the trial, a campaign was set up, which eventually secured Meehan a Royal Pardon in May 1976, as well as receiving compensation of £50,000 in 1984, which is around £170,000 and about $213,000 in today’s money. On receiving his Royal Pardon and being released, Meehan had spent seven years in prison.

Dawn:

How were they able to secure the Royal Pardon? Was there new evidence presented? 

Cole:

Okay, so this is quite a story, with a couple of different versions being told. So, you remember I mentioned that Ludovic Kennedy had put forward in his book that a likely killer of Rachel Ross could have been William Tank McGuiness?

Dawn:

Yes.

Cole:

Well, it turns out that William Tank McGuiness was also a client of Joel Beltrami, Meehan solicitor at the time of the trial and before.

Dawn:

Oh really. Wouldn’t that have been a conflict of interest?

Cole:

It would, and this is why Joe Beltrami was unable to reveal the fact that he actually knew of Tank McGuiness’s involvement in Rachel Ross’s murder, that was until Tank McGuiness’s death in 1976.

Dawn:

So, he knew that someone else was actually responsible for Rachel’s murder, but he kept quiet, even though he was representing Meehan and he was actually going to go to prison for it?

Cole:

Yes. Although Joe Beltrami believed that due to a client confidentiality he was unable to reveal this fact until after Tank McGuiness’s death, and this may have been the reason why he fought so hard to secure a Royal Pardon for Meehan.

Dawn:

That’s quite shocking that Beltrami only came forward with this information after Tank McGuiness’s death.

Cole:

I know. Meehan’s Royal pardon followed shortly after.

Dawn:

Poor Meehan. I mean he really got the raw end of the stick here didn’t he?

Cole:

Yeah, he did. And in an inquiry report by Lord Hunter, he too did not agree with Beltrami’s claim that there was a solicitor client relationship between him and Tank McGuinness at the time in question, going as far as suggesting that perhaps the best thing that Beltrami could have done back in 1969 when he was representing Meehan was to have stepped down and let another solicitor represent Meehan.

Dawn:

Well, yeah, that was the least he should have done. So, anyway, what happened to Tank McGuiness? How did he actually die?

Cole:
Well, there’s a couple of different stories. One is he was killed in a drunken street brawl. However, I found another story that was very interesting. In the book The Ferris Conspiracy by Reg McKay and Paul Ferris, it is stated that an arrest warrant was out for Tank McGuiness when he was picked up by two police officers. One of these police officers later stated that instead of taking him to the police station, they were ordered to drop him in a specific street in Glasgow, where he was subsequently beaten to death.

Dawn:
Oh, so, who was behind that?

Cole:

Well according to The Ferris Conspiracy book it was Arthur Thompson, who was a Scottish gangster known as The Godfather, who had ordered Tank McGuiness to be killed.

Dawn:

Why would he do that?

Cole:

Well, the book goes on to say that both Meehan and Tank McGuinness were long-term friends and asssociates of Arthur Thompson. However, more importantly, Joe Beltrami was Arthur’s solicitor, who had frequently got him out of tight scrapes, and he knew that Beltrami was struggling to get Meehan a Royal Pardon and was unable to break his client confidentiality restrictions with Tank McGuiness, so Arthur stepped in.

Dawn:

Alright, that’s quite interesting.

Cole:

And there’s even more. Following the information about Tank McGuiness’s involvement in the Rachel Ross murders coming out, it was then reported that apparently McGuiness had been stopped near Rachel and Abraham Ross’s house on the night of the murder by the police.

Dawn:

What?!

Cole:

But he supposedly pretended he was just drunk and had just missed the last bus home to Glasgow. He wasn’t arrested but sent on his way.

Dawn:

I’m shocked. I don’t know what to say.

Cole:

Well, I guess the police didn’t know about the break-in and the murder of Rachel at that point, it would have been 24 hours later before they were found tied up, but when they did know you’d think they might have followed up that line of inquiry.

Dawn:

Yeah, they should definitely have followed up that line of inquiry. I can now understand why Meehan was so suspicious of a police cover up.

Cole:

Yeah, it really makes no sense. A further interesting development that didn’t happen until after McGuiness’s murder is that apparently there were two witnesses, a Mr and Mrs Marshall who had seen two men acting suspiciously near Rachel and Abraham’s house shortly before the murderer. Upon Mrs Marshall finally being shown the correct photograph seven years later, she positively identified that it was William McGuiness that she had seen near Rachel and Abraham’s home that day.

Dawn:

Wait, you said they were shown the correct photograph seven years later, what did you mean?

Cole:

Well, according to Meehan in an article in The Herald newspaper on the 22nd of November 1989, Beltrami had told the police to show the witnesses a picture of a Michael McGuiness instead of a William McGuiness.

Dawn:

What?

Cole:

Yeah. Even though Beltrami knew William McGinnis and presumably what he looked like as he was one of his clients. And even more incredulously, William McGuiness actually had a record of tying people up.

Dawn:

That’s quite incredible really, and I could totally see why Meehan felt overwhelmingly that he was being framed.

Cole:

So can I.  In Beltrami’s book A Deadly Innocence, he did concede that with hindsight there could have been MI5 involvement.

Dawn:

What now?

Cole:

He went on to state that he knew nothing of William McGuiness’s involvement until much later. And, according to the Law Society of Scotland, he had only been able to disclose this information following McGuiness’s death, due to their client solicitor relationship, but that he had campaigned for seven years to secure Meehan a Royal Pardon.

Dawn:

Alright, that was really big of him.

Cole:

I know. Joe Beltrami died in 2015 at the age of 83. Following Meehan’s Royal pardon in 1976, journalist and broadcaster Ludovic Kennedy continued a prolonged campaign and eventually an inquiry was ordered into the miscarriage of justice, which was chaired by Lord Hunter, who was a Scottish judge at the time. However, having received and processed all of the information that was available to him about this case, it would take a further five years before Lord Hunter eventually concluded in a report in July 1982 that Meehan could not have committed the murder, but that he may actually have been involved in the background. So, he believed that Meehan may have been aware of the robbery, but maybe not what would be done to Rachel and Abraham. The report also added that there was insufficient evidence to support the claim that Meehan had been a victim of police conspiracy. Ludovic Kennedy, who has written many many books, also wrote a book about Meehan’s  case called A Presumption of Innocence, just if you want to delve further into this particular case. I could literally do a whole episode about Meehan alone. If you are interested there is a whole host of information on the internet about Meehan and his fight for justice. Meehan died from throat cancer on the 14th of August 1994 at the age of 67.

Dawn:

So, after all that, we still haven’t had justice for Rachel Ross’s murder, with Meehan now being pardoned and Tank McGuiness now being dead. So, what about the guy mentioned at Meehan’s trial? Was it Ian Waddell?

Cole:

Yes. He was the man named at Meehan’s trial, and by Ludovic Kennedy in his 1975 book as a potential suspect in the killing. Not long after the trial, Ian Waddell actually confessed to journalists that he had indeed committed the murder of Rachel Ross.

Dawn:

What?!

Cole:

Yeah. However, it wasn’t until 1976, after Meehan’s pardon, that Waddell was finally charged and tried for the murder of Rachel Ross, where he too submitted a defence of incrimination and claimed that the murder was actually committed by Meehan.

Dawn:

Oh okay. What is wrong with this guy?! He speaks to journalists and says yeah, I did this, and then when he’s charged and on trial he changes his story and says no, it wasn’t me, it was actually Meehan.

Cole:

Yeah, I know. He seems to be a bit all over the place. I don’t really know what he was thinking there.

Dawn:

Yeah, he’s just messing about.

Cole:

Anyway, even more incredulous the judge presiding over Waddell’s trial, Lord Robertson, in his closing statement managed to sway the jury into acquitting Waddell, simply because he was still not convinced of Meehan’s innocence or happy about Meehan receiving a free pardon. So, Waddell was acquitted.

Dawn:

I’m beginning to feel that everybody just has it in for Meehan. I’m not saying that he’s a saint, but he was pardoned!

Cole:

Yeah. He wasn’t actually there that night. Waddell was actually murdered in 1982 by Andrew Gentle, an associate of his, after they carried out a robbery together where they had murdered a woman called Josephine Chipperfield. Unfortunately, Waddell was dead so he couldn’t be charged and tried for this murder, but Gentle was convicted of both the murder of Waddell and Josephine. Gentle later committed suicide in prison, but that’s a whole other episode right there. So, what started that day in 1969 as just a few detectives wanting to speak to James about providing an alibi for Meehan the night of Rachel Ross’s murder, had turned into a shooting spree from Glasgow’s West End to the north of Glasgow, and continued to have ramifications over many years to come. What I did find seriously lacking though was information about Rachel and Abraham Ross and their story. I would have loved to have said more about them both, the victims. I would like to know what happened to Abraham. I know this was back in 1969, but if anyone can remember anything or if any details have been passed down by families, please send us a message to let us know, cause we’d love to do a mini episode about Rachel and Abraham Ross and their lives.

Dawn:

And that’s the end. If you’ve enjoyed this episode and know just the person who’d also like it, please share it with them, don’t keep it to yourself.

Cole:

Please also get in touch on social media if you have any questions, comments or suggestions and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can. All social media and contact details are on our website scottishmurders.com, as well as all the source material and photos related to this episode.

Dawn:

So that’s it for this week, come back next time for another episode of Scottish Murders.

Dawn and Cole:

Join us there! Bye! 

Granny Robertson: Scottish Murders is a production of Cluarantonn.