Behind bars after 19 years on the run
Gunman gives himself up after years in hiding
A farmer’s son who spent 19 years in hiding after a shooting incident outside a village pub was behind bars this week.
Paul Hill, 42, fled to England, Ireland and the Channel Islands after the incident outside the Falls of Dochart Inn, Killin.
He even returned to Scotland to nurse his mother who was dying of cancer, while there was still a warrant out for his arrest.
In all that time he never came to the attention of police, and finally handed himself in last year.
He was released on Lord Advocate’s bail in February and immediately got a job - managing the Falls of Dochart Inn.
But this week he was refused bail and remanded in custody to await sentencing on November 30.
At the High Court in Stirling on Monday, Hill, of Killin, pleaded guilty to struggling with another man and recklessly discharging the gun, to public endangerment.
He had originally been charged with placing the loaded gun against the man’s forehead and firing it at him to his injury, permanent disfigurement, and the danger of his life. But the Crown accepted his plea to the lesser charge.
He also admitted failing to appear for a hearing at the High Court in Glasgow in February 1997, and fleeing from home, to evade and avoid detection and arrest and with intent to pervert the course of justice.
Ashley Edwards QC, prosecuting, said the incident occurred in Gray Street, Killin, on January 14, 1996. Hill had been out for the evening with his parents, his sister, and a friend Neil Holman.
They went to the Falls of Dochart Inn, also known as the Clachaig Inn, where the public bar was busy. During the course of the night a drink was spilled on Hill’s father William, who was then 59. He blamed another patron, Thomas McKinnon, 57, for the spill.
Miss Edwards said: “Last orders were called at the bar at around 1am, and people began to move out onto the street. Shortly after leaving the bar, Thomas McKinnon became involved in an altercation with William Hill.
“The root of the problem was the spilled drink. Both men began pushing and shoving one another, and both ended up on the ground.
“The accused went over to where they were on the ground, Mr McKinnon sitting and Mr Hill lying.”
Miss Edwards said Crichton Davies, 24, who had also been drinking in the bar and who knew Hill because he had played football with him, went over to speak to him.
Mr Davies described Hill as being ‘really wound up’ and told him to go home. In response, Hill approached Mr Davies and began to struggle with him.
The struggle progressed across the road to the picturesque Falls of Dochart bridge, followed by Hill’s friend Mr Holman.
Miss Edwards said: “During the struggle with Mr Davies, the accused produced a small handgun, and discharged it into the air. Various people in the vicinity heard what they described as a loud gunshot.”
The struggle continued between the pair, as Mr Davies tried to grab the gun. Hill fired in the air a second time.
Miss Edwards said: “Neil Holman, who happened to have had some military training, took the gun from the accused and emptied it of ammunition. He then hid it behind a wall at the back of the hotel.
“The accused followed Mr Holman round the corner, and the two of them disappeared from view.”
Police arrived but a search for the gun proved fruitless in the dark. The next day, Mr Holman showed police where he had emptied the gun, and officers found four live, unspent rounds on the ground.
The gun was never recovered, but Hill handed himself in the next day.
Root of the problem was the spilled drink