A MAN was jailed for life yesterday for the murder of Mark Vass, one of Scotland's most wanted men who lived and died by the gun.
Eamonn Docherty, 35, of Skirsa Street, Cadder, Glasgow, admitted shooting dead 32-year-old Vass, who was suspected of two murders and a series of armed robberies, on September 29 last year.
Docherty's younger brother, Paul, who faced the same charge, had his plea of not guilty to the murder accepted and walked free.
Mr Andrew Lamb, prosecuting, told the High Court in Glasgow that earlier in the summer Paul Docherty had been assaulted by Vass. It was suggested then that the matter be ``sorted out in due course''.
On the day of his death, Vass's van was vandalised outside his home at 2 Vaila Place, Cadder, where he lived with his mother.
Mr Lamb said Vass got information about who had done it and drove off to find Eamonn Docherty, arming himself with a knife. He also armed himself with a Krooklok when he spotted Docherty.
Mr Lamb described how, as the two men confronted each other, Docherty produced a sawn-off shotgun. Vass turned and ran away but was shot twice in the legs.
The injuries did not kill him. Vass jumped over a hedge into a garden, followed by Docherty, who shot him in the head.
q.The court did not hear anything of Vass's violent background.
In 1992, at the High Court in Paisley, he had been accused of murdering 21-year-old security guard Derek Ure in a botched armed robbery in Greenock. The jury returned a not proven verdict.
Police believe Vass may have been the person who stabbed Andrew Smith, 23, to death near the Forth and Clyde Canal in Maryhill, Glasgow, in 1991, although he was never charged with the crime.
The week before he was killed, Vass was arrested after an incident near Glasgow Sheriff Court, during which he allegedly swallowed a packet of drugs.
As she walked from court, Paul Docherty's wife said: ``The court didn't hear how Vass and two other men chopped my husband's arm up with knives and other weapons.
``They did it in front of our seven-year-old daughter.
``As a result, Paul has a steel rod in his arm. He finds difficulty in using it and might never be able to use it properly again for the rest of his life.
``I had a miscarriage because of what happened and I'm still having nightmares.''
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