Bridge of Weir murder bid driver jailed after retrial

A man has been jailed for more than seven years after being convicted for a second time over his part in the attempted murder of a car dealer.

Don Templeton was involved in the shooting of James McGurk, 45, at Crosslee Poultry Farm in Bridge of Weir, Renfrewshire, on 31 October 2017.

The 40-year-old was the getaway driver while convicted murderer John Docherty, 49, fired the weapon.

Templeton was found guilty of attempted murder following a retrial last month.

He had previously been jailed for eight years for the crime, but that conviction was later quashed by appeal judges in 2019.

Templeton, of Johnstone, was handed the same sentence on Thursday at the High Court in Glasgow, but it was cut by eight months due to the time he had already spent in prison.

Judge Alistair Watson told him: "This was a planned operation and involved the discharge of multiple shots.

"It is a matter of good fortune - and nothing other than that - the injuries were not catastrophic.

"I sentence you on the basis you were the driver and not the shooter."

Mr McGurk told the 2019 case he had been working on a car that day and did not know who shot him.

He said at the time: "I cannot remember much. It is all a blur to me. I got shot from behind.

"I heard a bang and I was propelled forward."

CCTV footage showed the injured victim, who was struck on the right buttock with shotgun pellets, staggering to a nearby farmhouse for help.

Docherty was jailed for 12 years in 2019 for his role in the attack, which took place while he was out on licence.

Docherty had been serving time for the 1995 murder of John Boyd, 69, in his isolated cottage near Patna, Ayrshire.

He killed Mr Boyd with a pair of pruning shears and stabbed him in the chest with a screwdriver to get his bank card.