Notorious gangland enforcer Paul Ferris dies aged 62
Paul Ferris, a notorious Glasgow gangland enforcer and author, has died at the age of 62 following a short illness. He was previously acquitted of the 1991 murder of Arthur Thompson Jnr in a trial that became the longest in Scottish legal history at the time. After serving a seven-year prison sentence for gun-running, Ferris became a best-selling author and was portrayed in the 2013 film The Wee Man.
- ▪Paul Ferris died at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow at the age of 62.
- ▪Ferris was acquitted of the murder of Arthur Thompson Jnr in 1992 after a 54-day trial that cost an estimated £4m.
- ▪He was jailed for seven years in 1998 for gun-running and released in 2002.
- ▪His life story was adapted into the 2013 film The Wee Man, starring Martin Compston.
- ▪The murder of Arthur Thompson Jnr remains unsolved, with no one ever convicted of the crime.
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| Original publisher | BBC News — UK |
| Canonical URL | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwx28l8dp2lxo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss |
| Publication time | Wed, 07 Oct 2026 17:57:55 GMT |
| Retrieval time | 2026-10-07T20:57:28.885Z |
| Last seen | 2026-10-07T20:57:38.160Z |
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Notorious gangland enforcer Paul Ferris dies aged 62Image source, Garry F McHargImage caption, Ferris turned to writing about his life in Glasgow's underworldByPaul O'Hare, BBC Scotland and Benjamin Russell , BBC ScotlandPublished7 October 2026, 16:11 BSTUpdated 2 hours agoA Glasgow gangland enforcer who wrote books about his underworld experiences has died at the age of 62. Paul Ferris is believed to have died on Tuesday night at the city's Queen Elizabeth University Hospital after a short illness.
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