Police welcome gang’s sentence

SENIOR prosecutors and police have welcomed the lengthy jail sentences handed to the gang of petrolbombers who carried out a series of murder bids in Greenock.

Six men were jailed this week for a total of 64 years and three months for their part in the 2020 attacks.

Ringleader Robert Warnock and associates Kieran McAnally, Brendan O’Donnell, Drew Darling, Cain Carr, and Craig McFarlane were sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow, with Judge Lord Mulholland telling them they had ‘engaged in a campaign of terror over a period of months’.

Warnock had previously plead guilty to a conspiracy to murder charge after organising three fire attacks on the homes of relatives of two men he believed were involved in a 2019 attack on his brother Reece, who later passed away.

Properties on Union Street and Cumberland Road were targeted, with the incident at the latter address coming while a young child was asleep within the property.

During one of the Union Street attacks, a man died after accidentally setting himself on fire while attempting to ignite petrol that he had poured on the door and through the letterbox.

Darling and O’Donnell plead guilty to attempted murder relating to involvement in the Union Street attack.

McAnally plead guilty to attempted murder over the petrol bombing at Cumberland Street while Carr and McFarlane were also found guilty of conspiracy to murder.

David Green, procurator fiscal for homicide and major crime, said: “Robert Warnock was the ringleader of a revenge driven plot to murder two men and endanger the lives of their family and friends.

“His associates were either directly involved in carrying out these cowardly attacks or in arranging or recruiting others to do so.

“Our prosecutors will continue to do our utmost to prosecute those who carry out acts of violence against others and keep the communities we serve safe.”

Police chiefs have meanwhile praised the officers involved in bringing the gang to justice.

Superintendent Douglas Falconer said: “These acts were reckless and deliberate and showed complete disregard for those who could have been hurt as a result.

“This was a complex investigation and it is down to the hard work of officers, partner agencies including the Scottish Fire & Rescue Service, Inverclyde Council and The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, as well as the local community, that we were able to bring these men to justice.”