Glasgow Gangland Figure and Author Paul Ferris Dies Aged 62

Paul Ferris, a notorious figure from Glasgow's criminal underworld who later wrote about his life and experiences, has died aged 62.

Ferris is believed to have died on Tuesday night at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow following a short illness.

His life included periods at the centre of Glasgow's gangland scene, a high-profile murder trial and a prison sentence for gun-running before he later turned to writing.

From Glasgow's underworld to books

Ferris became associated with Glasgow crime boss Arthur "The Godfather" Thompson during the 1980s.

He was described as an enforcer within Thompson's organisation and developed a reputation that extended beyond Glasgow.

Thompson had longstanding connections to organised crime in the city and links to the Kray twins in London.

Ferris's association with Thompson later became the subject of one of the most notorious criminal cases in modern Scottish legal history.

Acquitted of murder

In August 1991, Thompson's son, Arthur "Fat Boy" Thompson Jnr, was shot dead outside the family's home in Provanmill, Glasgow.

Ferris was arrested as a prime suspect.

Two other men, Joe "Bananas" Hanlon and Bobby Glover, were also implicated in the case, but both were killed before they could stand trial.

On the day of Thompson Jnr's funeral, the two men were found shot dead in a car along the funeral cortege route.

Their murders remain unsolved.

Ferris subsequently stood trial for the killing of Thompson Jnr.

The case became, at the time, the longest and most expensive criminal trial in Scottish legal history, lasting 54 days with more than 300 witnesses giving evidence.

The proceedings were estimated to have cost around £4m.

The prosecution relied heavily on evidence from Dennis Woodman, who claimed Ferris had confessed while the pair were being held at Barlinnie Prison.

Defence lawyers challenged the reliability of that evidence.

After more than 24 hours of deliberation, the jury acquitted Ferris of murder and all other charges in 1992.

No-one has ever been convicted of Thompson Jnr's killing.

Jailed for gun-running

Ferris later faced another major criminal case.

In 1998, he was sentenced to seven years in prison for gun-running.

He was released from prison in 2002.

It was during and after this period that Ferris's life began to take a different direction as he turned to writing about his experiences.

The Ferris Conspiracy

Ferris published his first book, The Ferris Conspiracy, in 2001.

He subsequently worked with writer Reg McKay on a number of books about his life and experiences in Glasgow's underworld.

The story later reached a wider audience when The Ferris Conspiracy became the basis for the 2013 film The Wee Man, with actor Martin Compston portraying Ferris.

The film brought renewed attention to Ferris's life and the criminal world in which he had operated.

A life that took many turns

Photographer Brian Anderson, who first met Ferris while working on a newspaper assignment in 2002, announced his death on his Naked City Facebook page.

Anderson described Ferris as a best-selling author and former notorious criminal, saying news of his death would come as a shock to many people who had known him during different stages of his life.

He later told BBC Scotland News that the two had remained friends for around 25 years.

Anderson remembered Ferris as polite, funny and kind.

Ferris's death marks the end of a life that moved through some of Glasgow's most notorious criminal episodes before he reinvented himself as an author and a figure whose story was later brought to the cinema.

His involvement in the Thompson Jnr murder was never proven, and he was acquitted of the killing.

Paul Ferris was 62.