Latest news with #LennyScott
Daily Mail
13 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Former prison guard was shot dead outside gym after he exposed a convict and female officer's illicit relationship, court hears
A former prison guard was shot dead in 'retaliation' after he exposed an illicit relationship between a convict and a female officer, a jury heard yesterday. Lenny Scott, who was the father of twins, was shot six times outside a gym on February 8 last year by a gunman dressed in a hi-vis jacket. The roots of the 33-year-old's killing lay in his former job at Altcourse prison in Liverpool nearly four years earlier, a murder trial jury was told. Mr Scott had searched inmate Elias Morgan's cell and found a mobile phone on March 26, 2020, Preston Crown Court was told. Not only was possession of the phone a criminal offence, but Morgan knew it contained evidence which would expose his sexual relationship with prison officer Sarah Williams, prosecutor Alex Leach KC said. Morgan told Mr Scott to 'balls up the paperwork' and even offered him £1,500 not to report it, jurors were told. But the prison officer submitted the paperwork - and from that moment 'Elias Morgan told Lenny Scott that he would get him, he said he would bide his time, but that he would get him'. Mr Leach told jurors that on February 8, 2024 Mr Scott was leaving a gym in Skelmersdale, Lancashire 'when he was approached by a man wearing a high-visibility jacket and carrying a handgun'. 'The man shot him, six times, to the head and body,' he said. 'Lenny Scott died of his injuries. 'The murder was, the prosecution says, an act of retaliation.' He told jurors that the evidence would show that Morgan 'orchestrated' the murder and 'pulled the trigger himself'. Co-defendant Anthony Cleary 'played a supporting role' by using a van to deliver an electric motorbike used by the gunman, he added. The court heard in the days after Mr Scott found the phone, he reported being threatened by Morgan. He told his father that Morgan had said words to the effect of 'I'll bide my time, but I promise I will get you' before making a gun gesture towards him. A 'visibly frightened' Mr Scott also told his former partner that Morgan had threatened him that his 'home would be blown up with his family inside'. Four days later he told a police call hander: 'I'm in fear for my family's life'. The jury heard he also reported the 'threats' to the Prison Service, saying Morgan had told him his family would be hurt if he did not 'drop' the illegal phone matter. Instead the phone was examined and Morgan was arrested, later being charged with unauthorised possession of the mobile phone. Williams, the officer with whom he'd had a relationship, later admitted three offences of misconduct in a public officer and a computer misuse offence. Morgan pleaded not guilty and his case was adjourned until February 19 - 11 days after Mr Scott was killed. Jurors were told that mobile phone evidence shows the two men spent January 3 as a 'day of reconnaissance' as part of the plan to kill Mr Scott. They visited locations including the area of his home as well as gyms he formerly and currently attended. The court heard Mr Scott had been dismissed from the Prison Service in 2021 after he punched a prisoner in the face in an unrelated incident. Morgan, now 35, and Cleary, 29, both of Edge Hill, Liverpool, both deny murder. Cleary also denies a second count of manslaughter. The trial continues.
BBC News
15 hours ago
- BBC News
HMP Altcourse prison officer shot in 'revenge plot', jury told
A former prison officer was shot dead in an "act of retaliation" four years after seizing a mobile phone from a prisoner's cell, a jury heard. Lenny Scott, 33, was ambushed in the car-park of a gym in Skelmersdale, Lancashire, and shot six times with a handgun on 8 February 2024. Images on the phone exposed a "sexual relationship" between inmate Elias Morgan and another prison officer, Sarah Williams, at HMP Altcourse in Liverpool resulting in them both being prosecuted, Preston Crown Court heard. Mr Morgan, 35, and his co-accused Anthony Cleary, 29, both from the Edge Hill area of Liverpool, have denied Mr Scott's murder, while Mr Cleary also denies an alternative count of manslaughter. At the opening of their trial earlier, the jury heard Mr Scott left the gym on Peel Road at 19:34 GMT on the evening of his death and walked towards his car. The gunman, wearing a high-visibility jacket, was recorded on CCTV approaching Mr Scott before opening fire - striking him in the head and body. After the shooting, the killer fled on an electric bike which had earlier been left on the Daybrook housing estate, close to the gym, in the back of a white van. The prosecution claims the van had been transported there on a low-loader truck driven by Mr Cleary, who left it there for Mr Morgan to collect. Mr Morgan then drove himself to the estate in a Mercedes GLC car insured in his mother's name, parked up and collected the bike, the jury heard. Alex Leach KC, prosecuting, suggested the shooting was motivated by a search Mr Scott had carried out of Mr Morgan's cell on 26 March 2020, when he found the "incriminating" iPhone containing evidence of the affair with Ms jury heard Mr Scott refused Mr Morgan's offer of £1,500 not to submit the phone to his Leach said the inmate then "went to very considerable lengths to threaten harm to Lenny Scott and his family" if he handed the phone over. "For his part, Lenny Scott was not to be deterred," Mr Leach said. "He submitted the telephone and prosecutions followed. Elias Morgan told Lenny Scott that he would get him, he said he would bide his time, but that he would get him." Mr Scott, the jury heard, told his family and colleagues that Mr Morgan had accurately recited his address, named his three children, and threatened that his "house would be blown up with his children inside". Mr Scott also called Merseyside Police four days after seizing the phone to report the threats. A recording of the call was played in court, which included Mr Scott telling the police call handler he was "in fear for my family's life". Mr Leach said Mr Morgan was moved to a different wing of the prison 10 days after the phone was seized, and there was no evidence the two men had any further contact. 'Reconnaissance trip' Mr Morgan was released from HMP Altcourse in October 2020, and the following year Mr Scott was sacked from the prison service for punching a prisoner in the face. Mr Leach said in June 2023, Sarah Williams pleaded guilty to three counts of misconduct in a public office based partly on her affair with Mr Morgan, however, pleaded not guilty to unauthorised possession of the mobile phone and was bailed to stand trial on 19 February 2024. The jury heard that on 3 January 2024, Mr Morgan and other "unidentified men" carried out a "reconnaissance trip" at three locations linked to Mr Scott in a Ford Fiesta registered and insured in the defendant's name. They included his home address in Prescot, The Mecca Gym in Speke which Mr Scott had visited previously, and the gym at Peel House where the shooting would take place. The trial continues. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
