A CONVICTED drug dealer is a director of the controversial security firm offering to ''protect'' the property of home owners across the west of Scotland, The Herald can reveal.
He is Craig Devlin, jailed for seven years at the High Court in Edinburgh in 1997 for having (pounds) 1m worth of heroin and cocaine in his possession.
He has close links to Glasgow's most feared gangsters, and has been accused in court of being a hitman behind an assassination plot during a turf war over the drugs trade.
His new firm has come under the spotlight after more than 20 houses at South Park Village in Darnley were subjected to graffiti attacks on Wednesday morning. More than 10 cars were also damaged by paint-stripper.
The home owners had received mailshots a week earlier from the firm, offering ''peace of mind'' in connection with ''nuisance crimes like graffiti''. The leaflets said HomeGuard patrols would pass their property every 60 to 90 minutes.
It was revealed yesterday that 48 hours before the Darnley crime wave, a similar trail of graffiti appeared in the Green Meadows estate at Dykebar, Paisley. Residents yesterday told of receiving mailshots from HomeGuard (Scotland) Ltd to protect their families and property just days before the houses in four streets had words such as ''beast'' and ''rapist'' scrawled on walls. Other leafleted areas, including Crookston and Levernbank in Glasgow, have also suffered vandalism sprees in the past month.
Documents lodged with Companies House show that Devlin is a director of the firm offering security on housing estates, starting at (pounds) 3 a week. It was incorporated in June this year, with Devlin appointed on September 1.
At his Bridgeton address, a woman who answered the door said: ''He does not live here.''
Later, a man who called himself Neil Devlin and said he was a HomeGuard manager contacted The Herald. Asked for an interview, he replied: ''No chance.''
The only other director is Paul McCusker, 32, of Carrick Drive, Rutherglen, whose occupation is listed as manager.
Devlin reappeared on the underworld scene last year when accused of being the real hitman behind a plot to kill Frankie ''Donuts'' Donaldson, then a director of Raith Rovers.
Giving evidence, Devlin was allowed not to answer questions that might incriminate him in the case against John McCartney, cleared of carrying a Browning 9mm handgun.
Devlin's chequered career includes links to the another security firm, Guardion, known to have employed drug-dealing gangsters to intimidate rivals.
One of Guardion's operators, Paul Johnson, a former Strathclyde Police detective and convicted fraudster, is now believed to be in Spain. Another is Stewart Boyd, who is said to also be behind Homeguard. He was sentenced last year to 18 months for intimidating witnesses.
A 16-year-old appeared in court yesterday in connection with the Darnley graffiti attacks. The case was continued.
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