Gangland murder witness caught with heroin jailed

A former witness in a gangland murder trial has been jailed after being caught with £42,000 of heroin.

Craig Shaw was snared when police clocked him looking nervous shortly after he got out a BMW car in Glasgow's Possil in December 2018.

The 27 year-old had months earlier been called to testify in the trial of a man later convicted of gunning down Euan “EJ” Johnston in the city's Kinning Park in November 2016.

Shaw – a convicted thug – is now back behind bars after he today pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of heroin.

Judge Tom Hughes sentenced the mechanic to four years at the High Court in Glasgow.

Prosecutor Euan Cameron told how Shaw ran off when he spotted officers watching him.

A police helicopter then helped catch him as he sprinted towards a nearby speedway stadium.

The BMW was searched after Shaw was held.

Mr Cameron: “The police dog gave a strong indication that there were drugs in the vehicle.”

A total of 800g of heroin was found stashed inside bags within a rucksack.

His QC said “no one had been caught more red handed” than Shaw was.

Gordon Jackson, defending, added: “His partner had got involved in this business and got sentenced to imprisonment.

“When she went to jail, there was a debt outstanding. It is a nasty business and he would have to pay it off one way or another. He became a courier in this.”

Judge Hughes told Shaw, also of Possilpark, the sentence would have been five years, but for the guilty plea.

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