Locked up for 22 years, assassin who shot his victim twice in head
Father of two was gunned down at busy junction
A VIOLENT career criminal was jailed for life yesterday for shooting a father of two in the head.
David Scott, 33, was part of the gang behind the ‘well planned execution’ of alleged drug dealer Euan Johnston, 26, while he sat in his car at traffic lights.
Johnston was waiting at a busy city junction – and chatting to his partner on the phone – when another car pulled up alongside and gunmen fired at him.
Yesterday, at the High Court in Glasgow, Scott was found guilty of murder, while acting with others unknown, by repeatedly discharging a firearm on November 15, 2016, at Shields Road and Scotland Street, in the Tradeston area of Glasgow.
He was jailed for life and ordered to serve a minimum of 22 years. Judge Lady Stacey told Scott: ‘You coldly and deliberately cut a man’s life short, leaving a grieving family.
‘You carried this out in a public street and showed no regard to not only your victim but to members of the public.
‘The attack was a premeditated, murderous assault which involved a lethal weapon. It has correctly been called an execution.’
She added: ‘You have many convictions for crimes of violence.’
Scott, from Glasgow, was caught because he left a hooded top in the getaway car, an Audi Q5, which was abandoned and set on fire.
Forensic experts recovered burnt fragments and found Scott’s DNA on the zip area. They also located a bullet casing that matched one found at the shooting scene.
CCTV footage that showed the gang carrying out surveillance on Johnston’s movements also captured a member of the group wearing the hooded top and pulling up the zip.
At the time of his murder, Johnston, from Springburn, Glasgow, was awaiting trial at the High Court on charges of dealing £640,000 of heroin.
He was at the junction in his Audi RS4 at 11.40pm when shot.
He and a friend, Brian McMahon, 31, had just left a nearby restaurant and Johnston was on the phone to his partner, Danielle Carruthers, 33, to say he would be home soon.
But the Audi Q5 drove alongside and three shots were fired. Two bullets hit Johnston – known as EJ – in the head, with one striking his brain. The third hit the rubber seal round the driver’s door.
Miss Carruthers said: ‘There was a revving of the car and a loud bang.’ She then heard someone say, ‘EJ has been shot in the face’.
Prosecutor Alex Prentice, QC, told the court the killing was a ‘well planned execution’.
After the guilty verdict, he said Scott had a number of convictions for violence and carrying weapons. Scott showed no emotion as he was led away to begin his sentence. His co-accused, Anthony Ruthven, 33, was cleared of murder after the prosecution withdrew the charges during the trial.
Last night, Detective Superintendent Jim Kerr, the senior investigating officer on the case, said: ‘This was a pre-planned, coldblooded murder of a young man in the middle of a busy area... an act which was cowardly and without regard for innocent bystanders.
‘This type of violence involving illegal firearms will not be tolerated. There was more than one person at the shooting. Any new information will be investigated.’
‘Well planned execution’