Man shot dead after being lured from Airdrie home by friend

A man has been found guilty of murdering his friend who was shot by an unidentified gunman near his home.

Neil Anderson, 45, lured Gary More, 32, from his house in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire on 6 September 2018.

The gunman then emerged from a white Skoda, shot Mr More in the head and neck and ran back to the car.

Thomas Guthrie, 25, who drove the vehicle away, pled guilty to murder before the trial - which can only now be reported.

At the High Court in Glasgow, Anderson, who denied being part of a plot in evidence, was convicted of murdering Mr More.

Police have said they believe at least one other person was involved.

Det Supt Andrew Patrick said: "They can be rest assured that we will do everything we can to also bring them to justice."

Judge Lord Mulholland told the two men: "This was an appalling crime that you have been convicted of and pled guilty to.

"It was nothing short of an assassination of a young man outside his front door and the grief that causes his family.

"As you know there is only one sentence for this which is life imprisonment."

The court saw CCTV footage of Anderson, from Bothwell, South Lanarkshire, arriving at Mr More's house in a hired Berlingo van and talking to him at the front of the property.

A white Skoda pulled up beside them, the gunman left the car and repeatedly shot at Mr More who owned a gym. The Skoda was later found burned near Milngavie, East Dunbartonshire.

The court heard how Anderson stayed at the scene for about 13 minutes and dialled 999 before leaving.

Mr More's cause of death was "gunshot wounds to the head and neck".

A police sergeant told the court Mr More had been given a personal safety warning six weeks before the killing - but he was not "interested" in it.

Allegations of cocaine dealing against Anderson and his 37-year-old brother David were dropped midway through the trial.

The case comes five years after Anderson was cleared of supplying cocaine to an alleged £7m cocaine empire.

During the trial, prosecutor Liam Ewing QC asked Anderson if he had pressured Mr More over "drug debts".

He responded: "I was acquitted of being involved in drugs, how could I do that? I have not been involved in drugs with Gary More or anyone else."

The brothers were acquitted by the jury of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner towards Mr More aggravated by a connection to serious organised crime.

Mr More's older sister Lindsey Blaney, 36, told jurors that she had "suspected" her brother was involved in illegal drugs.

She stated that he asked her for £5,000 "to pay something" earlier than expected a few months before his death - but she refused.

Mr More's neighbour David Hughes, 41, told jurors he had previously delivered money to a man in Bothwell, on the victim's behalf.

Mr Hughes said he met the same man at the murder scene after hearing a noise outside his home.

In September 2019, while serving six years for six assault and robberies as well traffic offences, Guthrie told his then girlfriend he had driven the Skoda.

A month later he told prison officers he was paying back a debt and "didn't know the reason for driving."

Mr Ewing said: "He stated that he was paid £100,000 for driving."