Nightclub businessman shot on doorstep

Published on Friday 13 October 2006 01:59

Key quote

"I would appeal to anyone who was in the area of Mearns Road who may have witnessed anyone acting in a suspicious manner, or saw any suspicious vehicles in the area, to come forward." - POLICE APPEAL

Story in full BILLY Connolly's former road manager was recovering in hospital last night after he was shot on the doorstep of his Glasgow home.

Eddie Tobin, a leading figure in Scotland's nightclub scene who started his career accompanying Connolly on his national tours, was shot in the leg after he answered the door to an unknown gunman.

Mr Tobin, the former managing director of a Glasgow security firm who has worked for the Scottish Executive, was taken to Hairmyres Hospital in East Kilbride, where he was operated on yesterday morning. He is said to be in a stable condition.

Last night, Strathclyde Police appealed for witnesses who may have seen the gunman running from Mr Tobin's detached bungalow in Clarkston, on the south side of Glasgow.

The shooting took place at 7:45pm on Wednesday, shortly after Mr Tobin had returned home following a reception for the British Institute of Innkeepers. Neighbours reportedly heard three loud bangs. Mr Tobin, who is married with two children, managed to stumble back inside and raise the alarm.

The motive for the attack is unclear but it has been suggested that Mr Tobin recently agreed to advise a security firm from outside the city on winning contracts in Glasgow.

It has also been suggested that Mr Tobin was recently involved in a disagreement with another security firm.

Mr Tobin is the former managing director of the Up Front Group, a company that provides security to the building and bar trade. He left last year to set up Cleaning Scotland Ltd, a cleaning company which specialised in contracts with the licensed trade.

Strathclyde Police are treating the shooting as attempted murder. Yesterday, the home that Mr Tobin shared with his wife, Elspeth, was sealed off and guarded by police.

Detective Sergeant William Corkindale, who is leading the investigation, refused to say how many times Mr Tobin had been shot, but he appealed for witnesses.

He said: "I would appeal to anyone who was in the area of Mearns Road who may have witnessed anyone acting in a suspicious manner, or saw any suspicious vehicles in the area, to come forward."

Irene Thomson, Mr Tobin's secretary, who yesterday visited him in hospital, said that despite an operation in the morning he was sitting up and talking yesterday afternoon.

She said: "We are all just stunned. This has come completely out of the blue." Asked if Mr Tobin had recently received any threats she said: "Not to my knowledge, he has no connection to anything."

During a career that has spanned more than 30 years, Mr Tobin, has become a respected figure in the licensed trade and is the current Scottish chairman of the Bar Entertainment and Dance Association.

He has twice worked for the Scottish Executive as an expert on licensing and, most recently, on the expert group on adult entertainment, which was investigating Scotland's lapdance establishments.

Yesterday, Patrick Duffy, the managing editor of the Scottish Licensed Trade News, said that news of Mr Tobin's shooting had come as a terrible shock to the industry. "I was with him at a reception just a few hours before. He has made a tremendous contribution to raising standards in the licensed trade and making Glasgow a safer city. He recently branched out to start up his own business after years working very successfully for other companies."

Last night, a spokesman for the Scottish Executive said that Mr Tobin had been appointed on account of his professionalism and expertise.

From Billy Connolly's bag-carrier to clubland king

EDDIE Tobin has enjoyed a successful career amid the mirror balls and disco lights of Glasgow's night-life.

In the 1970s he worked as a road manager for Billy Connolly and progressed to looking after a number of fledgling Scottish acts, including Nazareth, the Sensational Alex Harvey Band and later Midge Ure, who found fame with Ultravox.

In the Eighties and Nineties he stepped back from dealing with artists to take on the running of nightclubs and pubs for the Stakis Group, Scottish & Newcastle Breweries and Carnegies Leisure Group.

He became managing director of the Up Front Group, supplying security for pubs and clubs. In this capacity he was influential in introducing the Best Bar None scheme, designed to raise standards.

He was appointed to the Scottish Executive's expert group on licensing and most recently, the expert group on adult entertainment.

He recently became Scottish chairman of the Bar Entertainment and Dance Association (BEDA).

Last year Mr Tobin, who is married with two children, set up his own company, Cleaning Scotland.