Gang who stabbed tiler in heart jailed for 81 years after ‘assassination’

WARNING, DISTRESSING CONTENT Gang members have been jailed for the murder of a tiler in a so-called feud after he was fatally stabbed in the heart as he sat in his car near his mum

A criminal gang responsible for murdering a Glasgow resident following an alleged vendetta have been sentenced to a combined 81 years behind bars.

Robert Park, 69, Raymond Platt, 56, Craig Colquhoun, 39, and Joseph McCulloch, 50, were today (September 10) found guilty of conspiring to launch a deadly assault on Tony Ferns on April 18 2019. The 33-year-old victim was stabbed through the heart while seated in his vehicle close to his mother’s residence in Thornliebank, East Renfrewshire.

The court was told how Tony had harboured long-standing resentment towards Park – nicknamed Rab – holding him responsible for his disabled sibling Mark suffering injuries in a traffic collision seven years prior.

Several confrontations occurred between the two men before Tony attempted to broker peace, reports Glasgow Live.

However, rather than accepting the truce, window cleaner Park joined forces with convicted murderer Platt, along with his associate McCulloch and Colquhoun, to kill the tiler. The prosecution alleged that Platt carried out the fatal attack whilst Colquhoun served as the escape driver in a Motability Audi Q2 vehicle owned by his then-girlfriend’s mother.

McCulloch was accused of assisting in monitoring Tony’s whereabouts before the killing. All four defendants had pleaded not guilty to murder charges during proceedings at Glasgow’s High Court. However, the jury today delivered guilty verdicts against each of the accused.

Lord Fairley declared: “This was not, as is sometimes seen in these courts, a fight that got out of hand. This was a targeted and pre-planned assassination.” Life sentences were imposed on all four men.

Platt received a minimum term of 23 years, with Lord Fairley commenting on his “appalling” criminal history. Previously, he had been imprisoned for 14 years for the culpable homicide of a man in 2000.

Platt was later sentenced to nine years for attempted murder in 2013. He was released early and had only been back on the streets for eight months before he stabbed Tony.

Park, a convicted drug trafficker, received a minimum sentence of 20 years. He was labelled as “the instigator” of the murder.

Colquhoun was given the same minimum term. He had previously been incarcerated for violence in 2012.

McCulloch, whose lawyer described the conviction as a “fall from grace” for the former railway engineering firm site manager, must serve at least 18 years. Tony’s mother, Phyllis Ferns, along with other family members, were present in court.

She wept as her son’s murderers were finally brought to justice.

None of the four displayed any emotion as they were led handcuffed to their cells. The jury was informed about the death of Tony’s brother Mark in 2017.

Their mother, Phyllis, aged 67, disclosed how Tony had been deeply affected by his brother’s death. Mark was reported to have been severely impacted by a road accident in 2012.

In her testimony, Phyllis agreed that Tony held a “grudge” against Park over this incident. She said her son believed Park had “made the phone call” that resulted in the car entering the street and hitting Mark.

Prosecutor Alex Prentice KC asked her: “Fair to say that there was bad blood between Rab Park and Tony?” To which the mother responded: “Yes.”

In charges that were dropped during the trial, it was alleged that Park had previously threatened Tony with a knife and later with a hammer. Park and McCulloch were also accused of confronting him whilst he was in his work van.

During another altercation, the court was told that Tony had struck Park. Around 2017, Tony then made the decision to approach Park at a local betting shop in an attempt to “draw a line under things” because Phyllis had been “worried” about the situation getting worse.

Park seemingly agreed – before declaring: “You were getting murdered – but I will make the phone call and call them off.”

However, the court heard that Tony remained a target. He became increasingly paranoid that a vehicle had been tailing him.

The fatal attack happened shortly after he collected his partner Angela McCann from her shift at a nearby shop. Tony parked his Audi A3 – as the vehicle carrying Platt and Colquhoun emerged from a side road.

The court was informed that on the night of the murder, Park had been out for an anniversary meal with his wife and son at a hotel in Glasgow’s southside. The following day, McCulloch hosted a barbecue at his home – Colquhoun and Platt were among the large crowd present.

CCTV footage and mobile phone evidence played a pivotal role in charging the four individuals after an extensive police investigation. However, it took six years post-murder for them to face trial.