Cops give death threat alert to wrong lawyer
SOLICITOR REVEALS FEARS OVER WARNING
Ashlie McAnally A lawyer who defended a gangland killer has told how police officers gave him an Osman warning intended for another solicitor.
Neil Kilcoyne revealed that two constables arrived to tell him his life was in danger from a possible attack from a disgruntled client.
But, minutes into the meeting, he realised they had wrongly identified him as the potential target. He also claimed the officers did not seem interested when he pointed out they had approached the wrong person.
Kilcoyne said: “They came to the office and asked to speak to me privately. I took them in to one of the offices and they said, ‘ There has been a threat made against your life, sir.’ “After I questioned them about this – who the threat was from and when it was made – I realised it wasn’t for me. I told the police they should be speaking to another lawyer but they didn’t seem too concerned. They had done what they set out to do.
“Getting a threat-to-your-life warning delivered by uniformed officers is serious.”
Kilcoyne has been a solicitor for 20 years and runs his law practice in Govanhill, Glasgow.
He was part of the defence team who represented gangland assassin David Scott, who in May this year was jailed for a minimum of 22 years for the gun murder of Euan Johnston.
Johnston was sitting in his car at traffic lights in Glasgow’s Tradeston when Scott ran up to the vehicle and shot him in the head in November 2016. The pair were rivals in a drugs turf war. Scott was nailed when CCTV footage caught him stalking Johnston and his DNA was found on a burned hooded top he wore on the night of the shooting.
Kilcoyne said: “I was concerned, to say the least . I had just f inished my involvement in a High Court murder trial. All sorts were going through my mind.
“After discussions, I knew it was a case of mistaken identity.”
He claimed a woman who called him looking for legal advice was behind the alleged threat.
But the female ended up being represented by another solicitor in a case in Kilmarnock.
Kilcoyne believes it is that lawyer who should have been contacted by police.
He added: “I’ve no idea if the other solicitor was ever approached.”
Police Scotland said: “We do not comment on individual threat-to-life warning cases.”