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00:00My journey to Orkney began on the return flight from Bangladesh where the gentleman I was sitting
00:12next to they offered a job with his brother's restaurant I thought why not never been to an
00:18island let's go I was around about 20 21 when my brother asked me to join him in the Orkney Isles
00:27and he was like a experience of a lifetime and then Shamel joined us in the restaurant he was
00:38always smiling he had like a little giggle constantly he was full of life we all called
00:46him handsome because of his dress ends all the customers used to call him handsome as well
00:53and he liked it he was a friendly type of a fella yeah it wasn't dangerous to anybody
01:07what we're seeing here is a live ram being fired at point-blank range which is what happened with
01:14the chum shooting so his perpetrator literally went up as close as he possibly could it was
01:20like a scene out in an American gangster movie doesn't sweat doesn't hesitate calm cool no sweat
01:33which is what you need to be to walk into a restaurant and kill somebody at point-blank range
01:37asking your son if you killed a man
01:43is
01:46horrendous ballistic evidence should have led detectives straight to 15 year old Ross but his father seen
01:54here was a police officer involved in the inquiry and he covered up evidence to protect him
02:00Michael Ross is a racist murderer the punishment 25 years in prison Michael was not just like any other
02:1115 year old he had access to guns how could this have been a 15 year old boy it's not the kind of crime
02:23that is committed by a 15 year old boy in Orkney well I believe this to be the good man and that's not make a loss
02:30although it seems like odd behavior there is a convincing explanation but then Michael does
02:41something with his balacalava which is harder to explain
02:48somebody came out of the toilet it was a young boy he had a gun in his hand and I knew who he was
02:55with I was terrified
03:02this call is from a Scottish prison it will be logged and recorded and may be monitored
03:08yeah I can't be any queerer I never murdered Samson
03:13if not Michael who did kill shuttling
03:20a man with a mask on came in and thought he was in to shoot everyone
03:43this has been a stranger twistier case than I could have imagined being an Orkney hearing everyone's testimony
04:02and reading the files has been astonishing but I still can't decide whether Michael Ross killed
04:09Shamsud in the mood or not
04:13either he had the ability as a 15 year old boy to walk into a restaurant and shoot someone at point-blank range
04:20which is what he's been convicted of or this has been a terrible miscarriage of justice
04:25and someone else murdered Shamel someone who's never been caught
04:29it's a frightening thought
04:32but there's a chapter of the story that I've yet to investigate
04:44that's the 14 year period between the police being unable to charge Michael Ross as a teenager
04:49through to his conviction
04:51I want to dig into the hundreds of witness statements, internal reports and documents that I've got hold of
05:00which covers this period
05:02and especially Michael's trial
05:05I want to use these documents to try and figure out what really happened
05:10and the best place to start is when Michael went into the army
05:15this photograph is of Michael when he was in the Blackwatch regiment probably within the first year
05:27best regiment in the Scottish division
05:30he was always interested in different regiments
05:33and although the regiment for this area was the Queensland Highlanders
05:36he probably heard stories I was telling and he chose the Blackwatch
05:42and he did very well in it too so
05:45Michael Ross has never spoken publicly about his case
05:49but I've got hold of audio recordings of him answering questions which have never been heard before
05:56he hasn't been challenged by a journalist
05:59but his answers give a unique insight into his version of events
06:05Michael Ross excels in the army and he becomes, of all things, a sniper in the Blackwatch
06:12by 2004 he and his regiment are sent to Iraq and stationed in Bajra where they become embroiled in ten days of intensive fire
06:19because that was the regiment that my dad had been in
06:20I thought I was like, well I'm not just one day
06:21so I followed my dad's footsteps being a Blackwatch soldier
06:23once I reached the time we worked hard and it was almost like a family itself
06:28Michael Ross excels in the army and he becomes, of all things, a sniper in the Blackwatch
06:34by 2004 he and his regiment are sent to Iraq and stationed in Bajra where they become embroiled in ten days of intensive fighting
06:52I was myself as number one sniper and my number two sniper was a lad, John
06:57a really brave guy, he was a proper good guy to have with me
07:02so I was really just, I had him with me
07:07There's, there's, I'm here
07:09and then Mickey starts down there to the left
07:12there's Mickey there
07:18I'm John
07:19I was a serving soldier with the first battalion, the Blackwatch
07:22and I'll serve with Mickey Ross in Iraq 04
07:26there
07:27Michael was a gentleman
07:28but he was cool
07:29cool and calm
07:30like he never got
07:31he never got excited
07:32a lot of odd people
07:33if you're getting shot at and all
07:34have been getting excited and all
07:35and he was calm
07:36you know
07:37like he'd been living the worst one his whole life nearly
07:39like
07:41this is just my Iraq album
07:42from the two tours I'd done
07:44I'd done the war
07:45back in 2003
07:46and then were sent back out
07:48basically that's just
07:49me
07:50I think that's about the first day of the war
07:52just this
07:54megal there
07:56you'd wake up in the morning
07:58there'd be mortars coming in
07:59then
08:00all snipers would go up to the roof
08:03and he could be there
08:04for maybe
08:05four, six, eight hours a day
08:07man it was calm
08:09there was no excitement out of him
08:10he knew his job
08:11he was his number
08:12he was a sniper
08:13and I was his number too
08:14like
08:15first
08:16I was spotting targets for him
08:17it was hard going like
08:21but it was good fun
08:22it was an experience
08:23you know
08:24it was
08:25you know
08:26it might sound strange in a way
08:29because
08:30he's trying to get used to being in gunfights
08:32we
08:33we were up in an area
08:34it was like
08:35the wild west
08:36lots of
08:37RPGs
08:38tunes
08:39and commands getting thrown about
08:40oh it's gunfired here
08:41there and everywhere
08:42me and him
08:43broke up real close
08:44like then
08:45he'd said about all this
08:46that case that was going on
08:47he was describing it all
08:49all to me about what had happened
08:50what he'd been accused of years ago
08:52and that it was a racist thing and all
08:54and Mickey was racist like
08:56he's far from it
08:57the opposite of racist
08:59you know
09:00and I asked him
09:02had he done it
09:03and he said no
09:04and I never ever asked him again about it
09:06you know
09:07he just took his word
09:08he was a man of his word like
09:09you know
09:11later on
09:12when we moved north
09:13to support the US Marines
09:15Mike's doing ended up being in a
09:17a suicide bombing
09:18a mass casualty situation
09:20Wow
09:21Wow
09:22Wow
09:29An Orkney soldier has been recognised for his bravery during his tour of duty in Iraq
09:34Corporal Michael Ross who served with the Black Watch for nine years was singled out for showing bravery
09:39after he held people wounded by an explosion in Basra
09:42he was mentioned in dispatches for looking after the injured while coming under fire himself
09:48I heard it on Radio Orkney
09:50and
09:51oh got so
09:52so excited
09:53I thought
09:54oh I must phone Eddie
09:55and yeah
09:56just
09:57fair excited about it
09:58very proud moment again
10:01it reads
10:02it reads
10:03by the Queen's order
10:04the name of Corporal Michael Alexander Ross
10:06the Black Watch
10:07was published in the London Gazette on Friday 18th March 2005
10:11I mentioned in dispatches for gallantry
10:14I am charged to record Her Majesty's high appreciations
10:18that's who he got for that
10:20the one in the corner there
10:22the third one in with small silver oak leaf
10:24he voted for his actions
10:26there was two bomb explosions
10:28on several of the vehicle servers
10:30a few people were killed
10:31in fact Michael was in the
10:34he was the commander of the vehicle he was in
10:36and he was literally in the turret
10:37and his bomb went off
10:39but his driver there
10:40he was the boy that was killed
10:46but then
10:47something happens
10:49closer to home
10:50a programme is broadcast back in the UK
10:53which drags the Ross family
10:55back into the case of who murdered Shamal
10:57Orkney is a community not exactly renowned for violent crime
11:02but that peaceful image was shattered nearly ten years ago
11:06in an act of almost unimaginable brutality
11:09the killer is still at large
11:12the prime suspect is Michael Ross
11:15married with a baby girl
11:17he's in the Black Watch Regiment
11:19and is currently an instructor at the catholic training barracks in Yorkshire
11:23so they name him
11:26yet a decade earlier
11:28there wasn't enough evidence to charge him
11:30police believe they're not that far away from bringing a person before a jury in this case
11:35but are still missing that final piece of evidence to complete the jigsaw
11:39in 2006
11:43two years after that documentary aired
11:45this final piece of the jigsaw dropped into place
11:48so here at Kirkwall Police Station
11:53a man walks in off the street
11:55and hands in an anonymous letter
11:57we say anonymous
11:59but he wasn't really
12:00because the woman on the front desk knew who he was
12:03his name was William Grant
12:05and I'm going to read you some of this letter
12:07it says
12:08this is a true letter
12:10I promise that I saw the person who killed the Indian waiter
12:14I saw his face in full
12:15and the handgun
12:16it was in the toilets at Kiln Corner
12:19I have lived long enough with the guilt of not coming forward
12:22William Grant would become the new star witness
12:26allowing the police to reopen the case against Michael Ross
12:30he's never given an interview
12:34until now
12:42I am William Gordon Grant
12:44I saw the person in the toilet
12:46and saw him running out after
12:49if it wasn't for my testimony indeed
12:51the trial would never have happened
12:53yeah
12:54that's
12:55young Michael Ross
12:56I knew his age was 14 or 15
12:58I can't give you somewhere about there
13:00but my grades though
13:01no one wants to see him any better
13:05that's the person I saw right enough
13:07I can't get away from that fact
13:10I wish I'd never bloody seen him
13:16on the night of the murder
13:17William Grant says
13:19that he was out drinking by himself
13:21now at some point between 7 and 9pm
13:24William tells the police
13:25that he went in to use the toilets
13:28which one stood behind me here
13:32when he's inside
13:33he says
13:34that he comes face to face with Michael
13:36who's holding a gun
13:37he says
13:38they stayed at each other
13:39for 15 to 20 seconds
13:41and then William Grant leaves the toilet
13:43and this is a picture of him
13:45holy my golly
13:50I can't mind when that was taken
13:54it's been getting back a few years now indeed
13:57yeah
14:05I was in the toilet
14:06when I had somebody rustling a bag
14:09in one of the cubitals
14:14I was just about to finish what I was doing
14:15somebody came out of the toilet
14:18it was a young boy
14:20he had a gun in his hand
14:25I knew it was Michael's face
14:26I was terrified
14:28I thought to myself
14:29I could be the next victim
14:31I stupidly stayed quiet
14:36I thought this would be the best thing to do
14:39this is the letter
14:40this is William Grant's letter
14:42this is what he handed in
14:44to the police station
14:46and that just kick started things again
14:48this is a true letter
14:51I promise that I saw the person
14:52who killed the Indian waiter
14:54I saw his face in full
14:55and the handgun
14:57handgun
14:59I have lived alone enough
15:00with the guilt of not coming forward
15:03the person was about 15 years plus of age
15:05white
15:06and had a balacalava on his head
15:09but still not turned down
15:11kind of
15:13on top
15:14on top like that
15:16that's the way it was
15:17maybe the eye bits were there
15:19or something
15:20I think it was
15:21and I thought
15:22a balacalava
15:25the handgun was natural polished metal
15:28or silver
15:29and was like a big Beretta
15:32this may sound stupid
15:33but the way he held the handgun
15:34looked like he had handled
15:36a firearm before
15:38I just don't ken what to do
15:41worried sick witness
15:46we'll pop it on the wall
15:48worried sick
15:56now as a lawyer
15:57maybe you can call me cynical
15:58but I trained in criminal defence
15:59before I became a human rights lawyer
16:01okay so the first thing I'd ask is
16:02why would anybody say this is a true letter
16:04this is a true letter
16:09I wonder why didn't you call the police
16:11my lawyers
16:15my lawyers phoned me
16:16and said
16:17aye there's a guy come forward
16:19William Grant
16:20saying that he's seen me in the toilets
16:23a kind of killing corner
16:25with a balacalava
16:26and a gun
16:28always at that point
16:29I didn't know who this William Grant person was
16:32never let him in my phone as far as I was aware
16:35the Mumutaz was cordoned off today
16:37as local police and officers
16:38brought in from the mainland
16:39searched for the killer
16:41he'd burst into the restaurant
16:42wearing a balaclava
16:43and blasted the waiter in the face
16:45before running out onto the street
16:50everybody in Ireland had been interviewed
16:52why he didn't volunteer that information at the time
16:55I have no idea
16:57I don't think I've seen this letter till now
17:00but it sounds a bit
17:02specific
17:04how he could say he was 15 year old
17:06I mean that would be difficult to judge
17:08a good description of the gun
17:11my first involvement in the case
17:14is when that letter came forward
17:17I thought the letter at the time
17:19was particularly compelling
17:21in the sense of the paragraph
17:24where he indicates that
17:26in his view
17:28the person looked like they had handled a gun before
17:31William Grant gives four statements to the police
17:35twelve years after Shamal is murdered
17:39the interesting thing about them is that they keep changing
17:43now given it's William's testimony
17:46that would lead to Michael eventually going on trial
17:49and then being found guilty
17:51I think it's important to look at these really really closely
17:56let's consider the murder weapon
17:58in William's anonymous letter
18:01he refers to it
18:04at different times by the way
18:06as a handgun
18:08a big Beretta
18:10and a firearm
18:12I have no idea about guns
18:15I just call a gun a gun
18:16but he then goes on to say
18:19that this handgun was a natural polished metal
18:24or silver
18:26now this is really interesting
18:28because I also have the statements
18:31taken from all the witnesses
18:33who were inside the restaurant
18:35at the time of Shamal's murder
18:36but just reading from the top down
18:38you know, black and shiny
18:39dark grey
18:41gun metal grey
18:42black chunky and heavy
18:44black matte
18:45dark coloured
18:47grey grey
18:48black black
18:49heavy solid
18:50black and dark
18:52William then changes this part of his statement
18:55and he's now saying
18:57that the gun wasn't highly polished or silver
18:59or silver
19:02that it was now dark grey
19:05I guess it's like a natural polished metal or silver
19:09I'm not sure why he said that
19:12that's just for something to say
19:14just why he said a big Beretta
19:15like I said I know the why he said that
19:17I think it was just
19:19something that came to my mind at the time
19:21I don't know why he said that at all
19:23Which one is it?
19:25Handgun? Beretta? Firearm?
19:27It sounds to me extremely convenient
19:30and it sounds to me
19:32like someone who has been fed their lines
19:35that look like he handled a firearm before
19:38how exactly does William Grant know how you handle a Beretta?
19:49My name's George Thompson
19:50I did my time as a detective
19:53I've recently retired from a long time in criminal defence work
20:00A criminal defence investigator is a person who assists a solicitor
20:05in the preparation of a defence case
20:10The main witness in this case, Willie Grant
20:14made great attempts to avoid me
20:18time and time again we would make appointments to see him
20:22and he just wouldn't turn up
20:24He was always very, very evasive
20:27I didn't feel like there were any particular red flags in relation to it
20:31It had the feel of someone who had seen something
20:35hadn't told anyone
20:37and effectively had decided they needed to get it off their chest
20:40But there was another witness who police had spoken to who was also going to be damaging to Michael Ross's case
20:51This is Scapa Beach
20:54In June 1993, a year before Shamel's murder
20:59Michael's walking here with his then girlfriend
21:01They've been going out for three years
21:03After the shooting, she gives a statement to police that Michael tells her a secret
21:09He tells her that he had a gun with him
21:12While his dad was way on business
21:14Michael found the key for Eddie's gun cabinet
21:18and he took one out of it
21:20It seems pretty damning, to be honest
21:23because now we've got his former girlfriend saying that he also had access to his dad's guns
21:29At the High Court in Glasgow, the trial has begun of the man accused of murdering a waiter in an Orkney restaurant almost 14 years ago
21:5029-year-old Michael Ross is pleading not guilty
21:53Before I went to trial, obviously myself and my wife are discussing things like
21:59Should we get divorced?
22:01So that she doesn't get affected by things too much
22:04So that she can try and live her own life
22:06I'd seen my dad sent to prison
22:09and to my mind wrongfully convicted
22:11At that point I had no control on my life
22:14All thought was of me going away
22:17and not being there for my wife and my kids anymore
22:20I couldn't have believed that I had gone to this state
22:26It was nerve-wracking
22:28for both of us
22:30and we got to speak to Michael every morning
22:34and he seemed quite confident initially
22:39Mind the judge, gave me a bit of lip
22:43Who was the prosecutor?
22:45Ryan McConachie
22:46Ryan McConachie
22:47Yeah
22:49You can tell him I think of him every night
22:58One of the difficulties I had in prosecuting this case
23:01is that I had to persuade a jury
23:04that a 15-year-old boy at the time
23:07had walked into a restaurant
23:09shot somebody from point blank range
23:12murdered him, walked out again
23:17Willie Grant saw Michael Ross with a gun
23:19coming out of a cubicle in a nearby toilet
23:22on the night of the shooting
23:24We had no idea as to whether he would be
23:28a fantastic witness or a terrible witness
23:31William Grant, his evidence didn't appear to be overly convincing
23:37There are problems with the corroboration of his story
23:41or the lack of corroboration of his story I think
23:44This afternoon Mr Grant was cross-examined by Donald Finlay QC for the defence
23:49Mr Finlay said to Mr Grant
23:50It wasn't Michael Ross you saw in the Kiln Corner toilets that night
23:54Could that be right?
23:56Very possibly it wasn't
23:58said Mr Grant
24:00William Grant goes on to tell the court that the reason he was in Kirkwall
24:04was to compete in a snooker competition at the Masonic Lodge
24:08with a detective in the case
24:11I have in front of me the actual court transcripts from Michael Ross's trial
24:16and his defence QC, Donald Finlay, explores how William Grant was able to recognise and identify that it was Michael Ross in Kiln Corner toilets
24:30He asks William Grant if it might have been at a Masonic meeting
24:35they might have suggested the name of Michael Ross
24:39Grant replies, very possibly
24:42So essentially what William Grant has just done is just admitted to the court that somebody in the Masonic Lodge has possibly given him Michael's name
24:54And that's just wild, I feel like I'm watching a courtroom drama
25:00He was closely involved with the Masonic Lodge
25:04The detective sergeant, one of the main witnesses in the case
25:08he came from the same Lodge
25:12I've always been of the view that any police officer should not allowed to be a member of a Freemasons group
25:17Rumours or allegations remain all they are
25:21but the issue I suppose arises is
25:24was William Grant influenced?
25:27There's something that has potential
25:29to lead to a miscarriage of justice
25:31I have heard that people reckon that police told me what to say
25:38and I just said I just went along with them
25:42and they basically rotted for me
25:44that was totally untrue
25:46It had been put to grant as well that the police couldn't find any CCTV footage that could confirm his presence in the town
25:55and I don't think he could really explain how that could be the case
25:58I certainly haven't seen any evidence that he actually was in Kirkwall that night
26:02I was just so stressed out
26:05I was just, I was just shocked like a leaf
26:08I was just, oh, it was just
26:10I just found it too much
26:12How did he even appear as a witness when he was so discredited?
26:15He was destroyed
26:17absolutely shredded in a courtroom
26:19No, I wasn't lying, I just couldn't
26:22I was just being asked so many questions
26:25in such a short time
26:27it was just like, oh
26:29It was panic
26:31Panic and just, I'd mind how hurt his racer
26:34just thumping, thumping, thumping, thumping
26:36I think his answers change regularly
26:38because for the most part
26:40he didn't actually know what the answer was
26:42I was trying to do the right thing
26:44I didn't muck it up
26:46It's something I'd never do
26:49I can say that I didn't make it up, no
26:55His evidence was just the icing on the cake, I suppose
27:00rather than being the building blocks of the evidence
27:10Despite the flaws in William Grant's testimony
27:12being drawn out under cross-examination by the defence
27:16the case against Michael Ross continued
27:19Michael Ross was charged with Mr Mahmood's murder
27:23Now he has pled not guilty to this
27:25and has lodged a special defence of alibi
27:28During the trial, Michael Ross's special defence is the plea of alibi
27:33When Shamal was shot at around 7.15pm
27:36Michael says he was a mile away talking to two friends from cadets
27:39Now this is critical to Michael Ross's innocence
27:43so I want to examine this
27:45This is the route that Michael says that he takes that evening
27:52Now, Michael says that he arrives here
27:57at around 7.10pm on the night of the murder
27:59After my dinner, I'd taken a cycle into town
28:14And as I've been cycling out the area, I've seen Hayden
28:17And then, as I've spoke to Hayden, the other lasses come running over
28:23Just at 4 or just after 7 o'clock, I think it was at night
28:28Just a brief, brief conversation
28:34Let's examine Michael Ross's version of events
28:38We're in East Abista State
28:41So, the Mumetaz restaurant is about a mile in that direction
28:50And about under 4 miles over there is Michael Ross's house
28:55So, Michael stops right here
28:57He says he speaks to two friends from cadets, two 14-year-olds
29:02He says the boy he chats to from the garden opposite
29:07And then the girl comes running out to meet him from over there by these garages
29:13He says that he's speaking to the cadets about a fight he had the day before with another cadet
29:18And that the boy wants to see his cut and his bruised knuckles
29:22And I mean, 14, 15, a fight would have been big news
29:27So, of course, you're going to want to talk about it
29:29Michael gave us an alibi, which he gave us for every interview we had in relation to the murder
29:52Saying he had been in Pap Daly State speaking to two named people
29:57The police were asking him what route he took on his bike
30:04He mentioned the fact that he had heard the sirens
30:08As I was heading home, that's when I heard sirens
30:13Also, I didn't know the relevance of the sirens at the time
30:17The first thing I knew was Eddie phoning me at work
30:20To say there's been a shooting
30:25And the boys are in town on their bikes
30:31I think he was maybe home by the time I got home
30:35Which would have been 9 o'clock-ish, maybe, or just before
30:38Or just before
30:42I want to hear that bit again
30:44I end up showing him mad my knuckle
30:46Because there's a big bit of skin missing off my knuckle
30:48Because if I had hit him like, you know
30:49That alibi was investigated by the police
30:59And neither of the people who he named
31:04Indicated that they had seen Michael on that particular night
31:08They were quite categorical that they had not been speaking to him that night
31:16Michael still maintained that that was the case
31:19They must be mistaken
31:23I think it was something like a 12 mile round trip
31:27The cycle was for no purpose
31:29He'd spent two minutes speaking to people
31:32And then cycled all the way back
31:33What I thought was perhaps significant about the alibi was
31:37How far away from the centre of Kirkwall that it put him
31:42That it was, if you like, designed to make it impossible for him to have been in the centre of Kirkwall at the time
31:54Michael says that he saw the two cadets around 7pm
31:58Yet both cadets say they didn't see him
32:03But I've discovered a document that tells a very different story
32:09This statement was given in 2008 by the cadet Michael claimed to have seen on the night of the murder
32:17And it completely contradicted what he'd said to the police in 1994
32:22Listen to this
32:25My recollection of the interview in the car was that they, that's the police, were very keen to get me to say I had not seen Michael Ross
32:38And there's more
32:40It was clear in my mind that I should confirm that I did see Michael that night
32:44When I was cutting grass and that I did speak to him
32:49I think that it was the night of the murder
32:53I need to speak to the person who took this statement
32:57Michael was keen for us to trace this guy
33:01And take a statement from him
33:04As to the night of the murder
33:07He says that it was clear in my mind that I should confirm that I did see Michael that night
33:14And that I did speak to him
33:16I'm confused about what day I did see him
33:19I definitely did see him and speak to him one night
33:22I think it was the night of the murder
33:24I did this, but I didn't believe what was said
33:28I put a note at the end of this
33:30The young man who obviously dislikes and distrusts the police
33:34And seems eager to assist the client
33:36He could be easily led or influenced either way
33:40So this sheds a whole new light on Michael's alibi
33:42Or does it?
33:43Did you believe that H saw Michael on the night of the alibi?
33:57No
33:59No
34:01You don't think Michael was there at the night?
34:03We're there as defence investigators
34:06That doesn't mean to say we want to get him off at any cost
34:12He's trying to help Michael
34:15That's what he's trying to do
34:17This happens all the time
34:20I think he cycled that route, like what time did he do it at?
34:25I know you've never given your opinion
34:28Do you think Michael killed Shemal?
34:36Yeah
34:37You think he did?
34:40I think he did
34:41I think he did
34:45What makes you think that?
34:49Information that we've got
34:52I went to England to trace a witness
34:55Who had been there on the night
34:58And we got a statement from that person
35:00From that person
35:02And based on that statement
35:06Yeah I think
35:08I think he did
35:10I can't discuss
35:12I can't discuss him
35:14And that's it, that's all I could say
35:17This is incredible
35:19So Michael's own defence investigator now believes that Michael killed Shemal
35:26Although he clearly feels unable to explain what the evidence is
35:31In a case that is continually thrown up surprises
35:35This must be the biggest one yet
35:36This must be the biggest one yet
35:54Just couldn't believe it
35:56I was in the court
35:57You phoned me
36:00You phoned me
36:02Well I think you'd phoned Colin to say
36:05Go home and sit with mum
36:09It was an awful
36:11Moment
36:13Has justice been done?
36:16This morning a war hero
36:18Tonight a convicted racist murderer
36:21Michael Ross has been found guilty of shooting dead Shamsuddin Mahmood
36:25A waiter at an Indian restaurant in 1994
36:33Michael was of course convicted at Glasgow High Court
36:38Just after the jury gave its verdict
36:41Michael did something that for many would be a far more simple and powerful demonstration of his guilt
36:52As the verdict was handed down in court there were astonishing scenes as the soldier made a bid for freedom
36:58As the judge addressed Michael Ross, he escaped the attention of his prison officers and suddenly leapt from the dock
37:03There were audible gasps in the court as he headed first towards the jury box and then outer side door
37:10He made it as far as this fire exit before police officers managed to detain him
37:17Right
37:19I've been a journalist for quite a long time but I've never come across anything like that happening
37:23When the verdict came down as guilty it was just a real shock to my sister
37:28The automatic flight reaction to the situation just kicked down so that's why I ended up jumping the dock and try to get it run away
37:40But Michael Ross's plans that day didn't end there
37:45This seems to be the escape route Ross was hatching
37:50After breaking out from the court it appears he planned to head north
37:53And it was to here to the car park of this Tesco in fact that it stopped
37:59Michael Ross was heading to pick up a hire car which he dumped here some days previous
38:04In its boot a cache of weaponry
38:07Was he planning to use this in order to kill again?
38:10In the boot police discovered a loaded scorpion machine pistol ready to fire which Michael had smuggled in the back of a TV when he returned from serving in Kosovo
38:20They also discovered 545 rounds of ammunition, a grenade and more
38:27Would he have gone on a killing spree in Glasgow?
38:31Would he head back to the highlands and target anybody in the north?
38:34I don't know, I'll never know what's going through Michael's mind
38:38But it certainly would be no good because you wouldn't do any good with an arsenal like that
38:43It's not for any good purpose is it?
38:45You're not going to go and live rough with grenades and machine guns are you?
38:48I just thought oh god, dear god Michael
38:59It was desperation in my opinion that's like
39:02At that point in time he's at the end of his tether basically, you know
39:05The press made a big thing, thinking that I was some sort of threat to the public at that time
39:13Because of the weapons found in the car
39:16I was a service soldier
39:19I had regular access to assault rifles, pistols, machine guns, sniper rifles
39:24At no point was there any risk or threat to the public
39:29I mean the thing, thinking behind, going away and living away in the highlands and stuff
39:35I mean the reality of this situation is that I probably would have been caught fairly quickly as well
39:39Michael made things extremely difficult for himself
39:44The issue it comes back to, does it prove the guilt?
39:48Does his mindset at that time point to his mindset when he was 15?
39:52It doesn't prove anything at all
39:54Where was the actual evidence that he had walked into that restaurant that day and committed that crime?
40:06There was evidence that it was somebody who was of a similar height to Michael Ross
40:12There was evidence it was somebody of a similar build to Michael Ross
40:15He didn't match the descriptions of the killer
40:18The information in the case was shoehorned to fit the crime
40:22There was evidence that it was somebody who was wearing a balaclava
40:27We eventually homed it down to be Michael
40:29Lots of us in Carex had balaclavas
40:32It was a shooting with a handgun
40:36We knew there was evidence that Michael Ross had access to handguns
40:40Well, what kind of a gun was it? Nobody knows to this day exactly what it was
40:43I looked at it on the floor and I could see just by a glance there was a 9mm parambellum round
40:50Then he spoke to me and he said, I have a box of 9mm bullets
40:55I thought I was being of help
40:57Somebody came out of the toilet
40:59I knew it was Michael's face
41:01Well, I believe this to be the gunman
41:04That's the guy
41:06And that's not Michael Ross
41:08Calm, cool, no sweat
41:10Which is what you need to be to walk into others and kill somebody at point blank range
41:15Every single aspect of the killer's clothing, demeanour, walk
41:21Fitted the description of Michael Ross
41:25How unlucky can one person be?
41:27How could this have been a 15 year old boy?
41:30It is not the kind of crime that is committed by a 15 year old boy in Orkney
41:34The man with a mask on came in and he thought he was in to shoot everyone
41:40As we took the mask off
41:44We were all staring at Michael Ross
41:46We were a normal family
41:59We knew he didn't do it
42:01I never thought we would be in a situation like this
42:06Because Michael was brought up to understand right and wrong
42:12And always told to tell the truth
42:16And I just had many cry to myself
42:20But the support that we've had from neighbours and family and friends
42:30Has just been unreal
42:31I can't say for certain
42:41Whether Michael Ross killed Shamsud in the mood or not
42:44In the end, you're left with a lot of devastated lives
42:49One man whose life has been brutally cut short
42:53Another man who's been in prison for his life
42:57Who still claims he's innocent
42:58And beyond that
43:01The many others whose lives have been torn apart
43:05By that one minute in 1994
43:08That changed everything
43:10That changed everything
43:40The only mind who hasn't been threatened
43:41That changed everything
43:42I don't think so
43:48Was there any longer
43:49The first time he died
43:50I have seen him
43:52This pandemic...
43:54Was there any risk?
43:56I don't think so
43:57Which I've found.
43:59I don't know
44:01Is there any risk?
44:02This pandemic has been a risk
44:03The pandemic has been a risk
44:05It has to have money
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