PAUL Ferris, the man cleared of shooting and murdering drugs baron
Arthur Thompson junior, was jailed for three months yesterday after he
admitted the reset of a #22,000 car stolen in England.
The 31-year-old car dealer had spent 10 days in prison before being
brought to Glasgow Sheriff Court after being arrested for failing to
appear at an earlier hearing.
Sheriff Richard McFarlane refused to grant bail after defending lawyer
Peter Forbes lodged an appeal against the sentence.
Ferris, of Inveresk Quadrant, Springboig, Glasgow, was taken back to
Barlinnie pending a fresh bail bid at the High Court next week.
There was particular disquiet among police officers when, in a recent
article, a Sunday newspaper devoted considerable space to Ferris'
exploits, giving prominence to his denials that he was anything other
than a Glasgow businessman -- the euphemism applied in the technical
absence of anything stronger to Ferris' mentor, the late criminal
Godfather, Arthur Thompson senior.
Earlier this month, it emerged that Ferris was to be the subject of a
Channel 4 documentary, including an interview by
murderer-turned-journalist John McVicar. At that point, Ferris told The
Herald he regarded the documentary as an opportunity to set the record
straight and that he had ''come to terms with his life''.
Ferris pleaded guilty to the reset of a car outside his home, then at
Jagger Gardens, Garrowhill, Glasgow, on March 16 last year.
The Crown accepted his plea of not guilty to failing to appear for
trial last month.
Mrs Dawn Brock, prosecuting, said the car was one of six which had not
been returned to a leasing company.
Police received information that a car outside Ferris's home might be
one of the stolen vehicles.
Although the car had a different registration number, it was
discovered to be one of the stolen vehicles and he was charged.
Mr Forbes said Ferris had got the car from the leasing company on a
sale or return basis but unfortunately did not get any documentation at
the time.
Since then, the company had gone out of business and the man who put
through the deal could not be traced.
Mr Forbes said Ferris was still in the car trade and was also involved
in a demolition business and had other interests.
The lawyer told the court that Ferris did not think there was anything
illegal about the car and parked it outside his home.
Mr Forbes said: ''The accused has a certain amount of unjustified
notoriety and the police interest in him has been a continuing one.
''Police knew where he stayed and would drive past as part of their
beat to see what was going on and, I suspect, that was the basis for
their information. The car was in full view.
''The accused knew very well the police were paying close attention to
him, knew they toured past his door regularly, and that they must be
aware of the car.''
Mr Forbes produced a used car invoice and said Ferris had lost several
thousand pounds over the matter.
The lawyer said Ferris was anxious to regain his liberty and was due
to become engaged on June 12.
Three years ago, Ferris was found not guilty of murdering Arthur
Thompson junior.
Young Arthur's death sparked off a gang war and, on the day of his
funeral, Bobby Glover, 31, and Joe ''Bananas'' Hanlon, 23, were found
shot to death in a car in the city's east end.
Their killer has not been found.
Ferris, who had been a close friend of young Arthur for many years,
was cleared after a 54-day trial, the longest murder trial in Scottish
legal history.
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