Man accused of gang killing walks free after case collapses

Ross Monaghan was on trial accused of murdering Kevin “Gerbil” Carroll outside Asda in Robroyston, Glasgow, on January 13 2010.

At the High Court in Glasgow yesterday, trial judge Lord Brailsford formally acquitted Monaghan, ruling there was no case to answer due to insufficient evidence.

The 30-year-old smiled as he left court and said it was the end of a “two-year nightmare”.

He told reporters: “I’ve always said this was nothing to do with me. I’m just so glad it’s over and now I can put it behind me.”

Lord Brailsford gave his decision following two days of legal submissions from Monaghan’s defence QC, Derek Ogg.

The Crown was given time to decide whether to appeal against the ruling but advocate depute Iain McSporran said that, following careful consideration at the “highest level”, there would be no appeal.

The trial heard that two masked men drew up to the Audi car Carroll was in and shot him dead while he was trapped in the back seat, before speeding away.

Carroll was shot in the head, chest, arm, hand, groin, back and abdomen, with one of the bullets leaving his brain exposed.

One witness recalled seeing fragments of skull on the back seat of the car, while another described the shooting as being like “another Dunblane”.

A bullet was found lodged in the car’s manual, suggesting that Carroll had tried to use it to shield himself from the shower of bullets.

Carroll had been at Asda that day with two other men – his driver, John Bonner, and associate, Stephen McLaggan.

The court heard that Carroll was trying to “move in” on other drug dealers and, minutes before being shot dead, had met Steven Glen, an “independent”, and told him he would be working for him from then on.

Monaghan lodged a special defence of incrimination, blaming eight other men for the death of Carroll.

Police compiled a list of 99 suspects for the murder, which did not include Monaghan.

Carroll was said to be a senior figure in Glasgow’s criminal underworld and “was not short of an enemy or two”.

McLaggan and Bonner fled from the front seats of the Audi when they saw a Volkswagen Golf pull up next to them. It also emerged that Carroll had been locked in the car.

Francis “Fraggle” Green, the son of senior Glasgow gangland figure Jamie Daniel, and the brother of Carroll’s partner, Kelly Green, admitted eating his own Sim card to stop police accessing information on it and taking Carroll’s phone from his body after beating police to the scene.