Gilmerton shootings linked to Moredun gun incident

POLICE are linking two drive-by shootings in Gilmerton to another firearms incident which took place earlier this month.

Dionne Hendry's Ranger Rover was shot. Picture: Toby Williams

Officers today revealed that the incidents at The Murrays Brae and Gilmerton Dykes Drive on Saturday - which also involved bombs being left at two properties - were connected to a shooting at Fernieside Avenue, Moredun, on September 9.

Detective Superintendent David Gordon said today: “We can confirm that we are linking these incidents together under a single investigation. This is now a major investigation led by the Organised Crime Unit, reflecting how serious we are taking these reckless and dangerous acts.

“I would ask the local community to think about where they were at the time of these incidents and if they saw anything suspicious or have any information to contact the Police. We need information from the public about who committed these offences and the current location of the firearms used in these crimes.

A bomb was left on Dionne Hendry's doorstep. Picture: Garetn Easton

“We believe the answer lies within the local community and are appealing for anyone who has information, no matter how insignificant they feel it is, to come forward.”

A bomb wrapped in a Liverpool scarf was left outside the home of Dionne Hendry - gangland killer Jamie Bain’s wife - at The Murrays Brae at around 9.30pm on Saturday.

Attached to it was a chilling message “Time’s running out lad”.

A second similar device – a drum of petrol with shotgun cartridges attached – was also left outside the home of one of Bain’s associates at Walter Scott Avenue in the Inch at around the same time that shots were fired at a house in Gilmerton Dykes Drive

The bomb carried the message “Pay, what you are due lad”.

The devices were discovered after Marmion killer Bain’s new wife Dionne Hendry’s Range Rover was blasted with a gun on Saturday night in Gilmerton.

They are thought to have been left by Liverpool gangsters to whom Bain, currently serving a life sentence for the murder of former boxing champ Alex McKinnon at the Marmion pub in 2006, is said to owe money.

Meanwhile high-visibility police patrols are being carried out in to reassure residents close to the scene of the shooting.

Officers say they will be on the beat in the Gilmerton and Inch areas for “as long as it takes”.

Detectives say they are “keeping an open mind” about whether Saturday’s shootings are linked to a drive-by shooting at Fernieside Avenue earlier this month, when the living room window of a family home was sprayed with bullets in a late-night attack.

But police are linking the latest shootings to a suspicious incident at Walter Scott Avenue in the Inch, where several people were reported to have approached a house at around 10pm on Saturday.

Yesterday, two police officers guarded the scene of the shooting at The Murrays Brae, and Ms Hendry’s home, which appeared to be unoccupied, remained cordoned off. Chief Inspector Richard Horan, of St Leonard’s police station, said patrols would continue.

“We have got dedicated officers who will be there for as long as it takes,” he said.

“Members of the public are speaking to us, which we very much welcome.

“We have also got a dedicated investigation team on this.

“We will do everything we can to pursue those responsible.”

Residents said such an incident was unheard of in the quiet estate. One neighbour, who lives around the corner from the crime scene, said: “The whole cul-de-sac was shut off when my daughter came back around 3am. Police and forensics were there in the early hours of the morning.”

She said a recovery truck had removed the Range Rover – which had a gunshot hole beneath the number plate – on Sunday evening.

The shooting incident has also prompted fears of a possible feud between the families of Ms Hendry and Bain, who married at Shotts Prison in July.