Soldier gets 25 years for 'vicious' killing of waiter

Published on Friday 17 October 2008 21:13

AN IRAQ war hero was yesterday ordered to spend at least 25 years in jail for the "vicious, evil and unprovoked" murder of a Bangladeshi waiter.

Michael Ross, 30, was just 15 when he burst into a restaurant in Kirkwall and shot Shamsuddin Mahmood in front of horrified diners.

At the High Court in Glasgow the Black Watch soldier was jailed for life by Lord Hardie. He was told he must spend a minimum of 25 years behind bars before being eligible for parole.

Ross, who was handcuffed as he stood in the dock, remained impassive as the judge told him: "This was a vicious, evil, unprovoked murder of a defenceless man.

"On 2 June, 1994, you murdered him (Mr Mahmood] in cold blood in a premeditated assassination. He is a great loss to his family and friends and the people he served."

The murder was the first on Orkney for 25 years, and the verdict brought a 14-year mystery to an end.

The jury found Ross guilty of murder by a majority verdict after a six-week trial. He was also found guilty of attempting to defeat the ends of justice by disposing of the murder weapon and changing his clothing.

In the trial, the prosecution relied entirely on circumstantial evidence, which it said formed a "compelling, unanswerable case" against him.

They said Ross, at the age of 15, was racist and that his extreme views drove him to hunt down and murder one of the islands' few Asian residents.

The jury had heard that, around the time of the crime, Ross had been heard to say "blacks should be shot and have a gun put to their head".

Police later recovered a notebook belonging to Ross which contained a swastika.

One of the key witnesses was Michael Ross's father, Eddie Ross, 57, who was a serving police officer at the time of the murder and had been stationed outside the restaurant after the killing.

He was imprisoned for four years for attempting to pervert the course of justice and later lost his job with the force.

The conviction related to a box of ammunition of the type used in the shooting which Mr Ross senior had in his home.

In his plea in mitigation, Donald Findlay, QC, told the court that Ross continued to protest his innocence and his conviction had come as a "great loss" to his family.

Mr Findlay said the notion that his client was racist was "as absurd as it is offensive".

But Lord Hardie told Ross: "It is never acceptable to say a gun should be put to the head of blacks and they should be shot."

He added: "These views were not only abhorrent but an insult to the memory of those, including members of your distinguished regiment, who sacrificed their lives in opposition to them and in support of democratic principles."

Ross was one of 12 soldiers decorated for outstanding service in Iraq in 2005.

The case against him was brought to court after Northern Constabulary carried out a cold-case review in 2007.

Sentence was backdated to June 20 this year.