Man guilty of shotgun execution

Victor Yuill was blasted with a shotgun a point-blank range

A man has been found guilty of "executing" a Lanarkshire businessman by shooting him in the face with a sawn-off shotgun.

John Graham, 21, blasted Victor Yuill at point-blank range at his salvage yard in Rigside in January.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard a £30,000 price had been placed on Mr Yuill's head by a cannabis grower.

Judge Lord Carloway said the killing had all the hallmarks of a pre-planned callous, cold-hearted execution.

Three other men also face lengthy prison terms for their parts in the death.

Cannabis farms

The court heard the attack happened at Mr Yuill's yard on 28 January.

The 47-year-old was shot in the face as he begged for his life, leaving him almost unrecognisable.

The account of the execution was given by Scott Percy, 29, who originally faced the same murder charge.

Percy admitted culpable homicide and went on to give evidence against Graham.

The trial had heard that the hit was ordered by cannabis grower James "Dally" Duncan and that Russell "Gus" Dewar had supplied the weapon.

Duncan, 60, and Dewar, 34, were found guilty of murder, even though they had not gone to the Woodside Salvage in Ayr Road on the day of the murder.

The exact reason for the assassination remained a mystery but the trial heard of disputes over lucrative "cannabis farms", where harvests of the drug could fetch hundreds of thousands of pounds.

False alibi

Papers were served on Duncan seeking to confiscate alleged drug profits of £298,000.

Lord Carloway told the jury: "There was a major fall-out concerning the operation. Exactly what it was about may be difficult, if not impossible to determine."

The jury found Graham, from Easterhouse in Glasgow, guilty of burning the stolen Mercedes used in the hit, burying the shotgun and trying to set up a false alibi.

He was also found guilty of being concerned in the supply of cannabis and using counterfeit £20 notes in petrol stations.

Dewar, of Hamilton, was found guilty of involvement in cannabis dealing and helping to burn the car.

Duncan, of East Kilbride, was found guilty of involvement in the supply of cannabis.

All three are due to be formally sentenced next month when Percy, also of Easterhouse, will be jailed for his part in the killing, and for being concerned in the supply of cannabis, which he also admitted.