Paul Ferris, the notorious Glasgow gangster whose turbulent life was portrayed by Martin Compston in the film The Wee Man, has died at the age of 62.
Ferris first became a national figure in 1992 when he was acquitted at Glasgow High Court of murdering Arthur Thompson Jnr, the son of Glasgow crime boss Arthur Thompson Snr. At the time, the case was Scotland’s longest-running criminal trial.
Six years later, Ferris appeared before the Old Bailey in London and was found guilty of conspiring to transfer banned weapons, firearms offences and possessing explosives.
He was initially handed a ten-year prison sentence, which was later cut to seven years following an appeal.
During his time in prison, Ferris wrote The Ferris Conspiracy, the memoir that later inspired the 2013 film The Wee Man. The Bafta-winning production starred Line of Duty actor Martin Compston.
Ferris died yesterday at University Hospital in Glasgow, where he had been admitted two days earlier.
Police officers gave him the nickname ‘Houdini’, referring to his repeated success in overcoming serious criminal allegations that investigators believed were supported by strong evidence.
After leaving prison in 2002, Ferris maintained that he had turned his back on criminality. He said he had established a legitimate career, with business interests in construction and security.
He went on to release a number of books recounting his experiences and his years in Glasgow’s underworld.
Speaking to the Daily Record in July, Ferris rejected suggestions that he might return to crime and said he had never been tempted, despite ongoing doubts about his claimed reinvention.
He said: ‘I have either been an absolute criminal genius for the last 25 years or I have done nothing wrong. Take your pick.’
Paul Ferris was a notorious underworld figure, former gangland enforcer and author
Ferris pictured outside Glasgow High Court in 1992 after being cleared of murdering Arthur Thompson Jnr, son of crime ‘godfather’ Arthur Thompson Snr
Ferris had also spoken about plans for two further films connected to The Wee Man, saying the profits would be used to help settle a sizeable tax debt.
The original film followed his journey from Glasgow’s tough Blackhill neighbourhood during the 1970s and 1980s to his rise as an enforcer working for the feared Arthur Thompson Snr.
A family friend told the Record: ‘This has come as a great shock to everyone who knew Paul over the years. No one was aware that he was unwell.
‘Our sincere condolences go to Paul’s family, friends and loved ones at this extremely difficult time.’
Ferris was raised only a few hundred yards from Thompson’s heavily protected home, which was known locally as the Ponderosa.
He left school at 16 and initially found work as a van boy before becoming drawn into organised crime.
By the time he was 19, Ferris had entered Thompson’s inner circle and built a formidable reputation across Glasgow’s criminal underworld.
He was cleared over the shooting of John Hogg in 1984, after Hogg was struck when gunmen targeted his cousin Willie Gibson.
Ferris later fell out with the Thompsons in a bitter split that became one of the defining feuds of Glasgow gangland.
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He claimed he had been set up over a drugs bust and said only Thompson Snr and Thompson Jnr knew where he had been travelling at the time.
The feud has long been linked to the 1991 murder of Arthur Thompson Jnr, known as ‘Fat Boy’, who was shot dead outside his father’s home in Provanmill.
Shortly afterwards, Ferris’s associates Bobby Glover, 31, and Joe ‘Bananas’ Hanlon, 23, were found shot dead in a car on the day of Thompson’s funeral.
Ferris was charged with the murder of Thompson Jnr but was acquitted after the landmark High Court trial. No one else has ever been convicted over the killing.
However, he was eventually convicted following Operation Abonar, an undercover investigation involving MI5, Strathclyde Police, Scotland Yard and the South East Regional Crime Squad.
Line Of Duty actor Martin Compston played Paul Ferris in 2013 Bafta-winning film The Wee Man
The operation caught Ferris transporting three MAC-10 submachine guns, ammunition, Uzi magazines and silencers to Glasgow in an Opal Fruits box in 1997.
Prosecutors said the weapons were destined for Glasgow’s gangland streets.
Ferris was jailed in London for ten years in 1998, later reduced to seven, and served time in Belmarsh prison.
Although he vowed to go straight after his release, he became embroiled in a feud with rival gangster Tam McGraw.
Their dispute culminated in a violent confrontation in 2002 in which both men suffered knife injuries.
A subsequent meeting involving Ferris was recorded during police surveillance and resulted in his parole being revoked and his return to prison.
During his imprisonment, he began his writing career, publishing books that chronicled his criminal past and gangland experiences.
Interest in his story resurfaced after The Wee Man was released, with a sequel announced earlier this year.
Ferris was in jail when an explosive gang war kicked off in Glasgow.
The Daniel clan blamed their bitter rivals the Lyons after a cocaine package was stolen from a safe house and a series of tit-for-tat shootings followed.
Ferris had connections with both families but opted to stay out of the feud.
Speaking this year, he said: ‘I know both the families and they know my position. It’s always been neutrality.
‘I don’t get involved. I am doing what I am doing.’
Ferris is survived by five children, none of whom he said had become involved in crime.
Ferris’s older brother Billy died in prison last year aged 75 for murdering 15-year-old schoolboy Jason Hutchison in Ayrshire in 2003.