Notorious Glasgow gangster Paul Ferris, whose life story was later brought to the big screen in a film starring Martin Compston, has died aged 62.
Ferris first made national headlines in 1992 when he was acquitted at Glasgow High Court of murdering Arthur Thompson Jnr, the son of Glasgow crime “godfather” Arthur Thompson Snr. The case became the longest-running trial in Scottish criminal history at the time.
Six years later, he appeared before the Old Bailey in London, where he was found guilty of conspiring to transfer prohibited weapons, dealing in firearms and possessing explosives.
Ferris was initially handed a 10-year prison sentence, although this was reduced to seven years following an appeal.
During his time behind bars, he wrote his first book, The Ferris Conspiracy. It was later adapted into The Wee Man, the 2013 Bafta-winning film featuring Line of Duty actor Martin Compston.
Ferris died at University Hospital in Glasgow yesterday, two days after being admitted.
Police officers gave him the nickname “Houdini”, a reference to his ability to escape serious criminal charges that investigators believed they had built watertight cases against him.
After leaving prison in 2002, Ferris maintained that he had turned his back on crime. He said he had reinvented himself as a legitimate businessman with interests in the security and construction industries.
He went on to publish several books about his life and experiences.
Speaking to the Daily Record in July, Ferris said he had never considered returning to a life of crime, despite ongoing doubts about his claimed transformation.
He said: “I have either been an absolute criminal genius for the last 25 years or I have done nothing wrong. Take your pick.”
Notorious underworld figure Paul Ferris was a former gangland enforcer and author
Ferris outside Glasgow High Court in 1992 after being cleared of murdering Arthur Thompson Jnr, the son of Glasgow crime “godfather” Arthur Thompson Snr
Ferris also disclosed plans for two follow-up films to The Wee Man, saying the profits would be used to help settle a substantial tax bill.
The film depicted Ferris’s rise from Glasgow’s tough Blackhill area during the 1970s and 1980s to his role as an enforcer for feared crime boss Arthur Thompson Snr.
A family friend told the Record: “This has come as a great shock to everyone who knew Paul over the years. No one was aware that he was unwell.
“Our sincere condolences go to Paul’s family, friends and loved ones at this extremely difficult time.”
Ferris was raised just a few hundred yards from Thompson’s heavily fortified home, which was known as the Ponderosa.
He left school at 16 and initially worked as a van boy before becoming involved in organised crime.
By the age of 19, Ferris had entered Thompson’s inner circle and built a fearsome reputation in Glasgow’s criminal underworld.
He was cleared over the shooting of John Hogg in 1984, after Hogg was struck when gunmen targeted his cousin Willie Gibson.
Ferris later fell out with the Thompsons in a bitter split that became one of the defining feuds of Glasgow gangland.
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He claimed he had been set up over a drugs bust and said only Thompson Snr and Thompson Jnr knew where he had been travelling at the time.
The feud has long been linked to the 1991 murder of Arthur Thompson Jnr, known as ‘Fat Boy’, who was shot dead outside his father’s home in Provanmill.
Shortly afterwards, Ferris’s associates Bobby Glover, 31, and Joe ‘Bananas’ Hanlon, 23, were found shot dead in a car on the day of Thompson’s funeral.
Ferris was charged with the murder of Thompson Jnr but was acquitted after the landmark High Court trial. No one else has ever been convicted over the killing.
However, he was eventually convicted following Operation Abonar, an undercover investigation involving MI5, Strathclyde Police, Scotland Yard and the South East Regional Crime Squad.
Line Of Duty actor Martin Compston played Paul Ferris in 2013 Bafta-winning film The Wee Man
The operation caught Ferris transporting three MAC-10 submachine guns, ammunition, Uzi magazines and silencers to Glasgow in an Opal Fruits box in 1997.
Prosecutors said the weapons were destined for Glasgow’s gangland streets.
Ferris was jailed in London for ten years in 1998, later reduced to seven, and served time in Belmarsh prison.
Although he vowed to go straight after his release, he became embroiled in a feud with rival gangster Tam McGraw.
Their dispute culminated in a violent confrontation in 2002 in which both men suffered knife injuries.
A subsequent meeting involving Ferris was recorded during police surveillance and resulted in his parole being revoked and his return to prison.
During his imprisonment, he began his writing career, publishing books that chronicled his criminal past and gangland experiences.
Interest in his story resurfaced after The Wee Man was released, with a sequel announced earlier this year.
Ferris was in jail when an explosive gang war kicked off in Glasgow.
The Daniel clan blamed their bitter rivals the Lyons after a cocaine package was stolen from a safe house and a series of tit-for-tat shootings followed.
Ferris had connections with both families but opted to stay out of the feud.
Speaking this year, he said: ‘I know both the families and they know my position. It’s always been neutrality.
‘I don’t get involved. I am doing what I am doing.’
Ferris is survived by five children, none of whom he said had become involved in crime.
Ferris’s older brother Billy died in prison last year aged 75 for murdering 15-year-old schoolboy Jason Hutchison in Ayrshire in 2003.
