Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay has insisted he will not “live in fear” as the gangland attacker who hurled acid in his face is due to be released from prison on Wednesday.
William Burns, a career criminal with a long history of violence, is set to walk free after serving a 10-year sentence for the brutal doorstep assault on the former crime journalist.
Mr Findlay said he intends to remain cautious and “vigilant”, but made clear he has no plans to retreat from public life, alter his routine or keep a lower profile.
Burns, now 65, was jailed in 2017 over the botched attack at Mr Findlay’s home in December 2015, when he arrived disguised as a postman and threw sulphuric acid at the reporter’s face.
Mr Findlay, whose years of investigative reporting had exposed and infuriated figures in organised crime, was knocked to the floor during the ambush but fought back and managed to overpower Burns.
The assault came not long after Burns had been released early from a 15-year prison sentence for shooting a woman during a post office robbery in 2001.
Mr Findlay entered the Scottish Parliament in 2021, and in 2024 disclosed that Police Scotland had issued him with an Osman warning after receiving information about a threat to his life from a “known criminal”.
Despite that warning, he went on to stand for the Scottish Tory leadership later that year and won the contest.
Russell Findlay said he would be ‘vigilant’ but not change his lifestyle or adopt a low profile after William Burns’ release from prison
Burns was denied parole several times, but Mr Findlay said he had been told by the Scottish Prison Service his attacker’s sentence had now run its course.
The West Scotland MSP told the Mail: ‘He’s been released automatically because – very unusually – he’s done the entirety of his turn.
‘That’s presumably because the parole board were never satisfied they could release him safely. But now we’re at the end of the road. He’s a dangerous, dangerous man.’
He added: ‘You can’t live your life in hiding. When I embarked on a job in politics, I knew that I would be more visible than I had ever been. But that’s just part of the job.
‘I’ll continue to be vigilant. I won’t do anything reckless. One can only hope that these people, these cretins, don’t seek to do anything.
‘We’ve seen MPs murdered in England, and we’ve seen all sorts of hostility and abuse directed towards politicians across the United Kingdom. It’s just a daily occurrence.
‘Most of it you can dismiss as the crazy ravings of people on social media hiding behind anonymous accounts.
‘Inevitably there’s always going to be a risk with being involved in politics. But I’m not going to change what I do. I’m going to continue doing what I do.’
He went on: ‘You just have to look at the recent horrific murder of Ann Widdecombe to see that there is a real risk to politicians.
William Burns was denied parole several times
‘You just have to take responsibility for trying to do the sensible things for your own safety, and also have faith in the police that they are on top of finding potential risks.’
Mr Findlay said his personal experience of the justice system was that the police investigation was ‘very good’ but stopped short of going after those behind Burns.
He added: ‘They didn’t look beyond the hitman. They didn’t look at who had ordered this and paid for this attack on me, and I was aggrieved at that.
‘As for the prosecution process, it was typical of what I hear from crime victims all the time: secrecy and putting the interests of the criminal first, rather than victims or witnesses.’
He also criticised the secrecy around parole saying: ‘It’s simple. When a criminal is sentenced, the public is entitled to know how long the sentence is. So why on earth should there not be that exact same transparency around how much is actually served?
‘Given the way in which the SNP have perverted the sentencing regime in Scotland, the term issued by a judge usually bears no resemblance to the time actually served.’
He added he hoped police and prosecutors would look again at four unsolved murders from the 1990s with potential links to Burns and an associate, and continued: ‘Police Scotland have secured some very important cold case convictions in recent years, due to their determination and skill.
‘Despite the passage of many decades, families of these murder victims deserve that same justice.
Russell Findlay’s face was burned by acid during the attack
‘Anyone walking the streets of Scotland who thinks they’ve got away with murder should be held to account.’
Mr Findlay first revealed the development on X posting Burns’s mugshot with the words: ‘This is William “Basil” Burns.
‘He’s the hitman who came to my home and threw sulphuric acid in my face in 2015.
‘He’s due to be released from prison on Wednesday.
‘Two years ago Police Scotland warned me about a possible new threat to my safety.
‘This threat stemmed from an associate of Burns, who’s a member of a major Scottish drugs gang.’
The Scottish Prison Service confirmed Burns had served his full sentence but refused to say which jail he would leave on Wednesday.
He will be subject to five years supervision on release.
