Ian Douglas McAteer (born November 1961) is a Scottish former
gangster
A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from ''mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and ...
who was a prominent figure in the
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
and
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
criminal underworlds during the later 20th century. McAteer accumulated various convictions, and in 2001 was sentenced to
life
Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...
for the 1999 murder of a gangland associate; he had been acquitted of a previous murder charge in 1998. McAteer was a suspect in other crimes, including the 1999 murder of television presenter
Jill Dando
Jill Wendy Dando (9 November 1961 – 26 April 1999) was an English journalist, television presenter and newsreader. She spent most of her career at the BBC and was the corporation's Personality of the Year in 1997. At the time of her death, her ...
.
Background
McAteer was born in
Dalmuir
Dalmuir (; gd, Dail Mhoire) is an area northwest of Glasgow, Scotland, on the western side of Clydebank, and part of West Dunbartonshire Council Area. The name is a lowland Scots derivation of the Gaelic meaning Big Field. The area was ori ...
,
Clydebank
Clydebank ( gd, Bruach Chluaidh) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Mil ...
, growing up between his birthplace and
Easterhouse
Easterhouse is a suburb of Glasgow, Scotland, east of the city centre on land gained from the county of Lanarkshire as part of an expansion of Glasgow before the Second World War. The area is on high ground north of the River Clyde and south ...
,
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
.''The Cartel'' (Johnson), Chapter 1: The Big Bang By age 11, an
impoverished
Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little
McAteer was robbing purses and handbags to feed himself and his four siblings, all of whom had fractured childhoods and spent time in
foster care
Foster care is a system in which a minor has been placed into a ward, group home (residential child care community, treatment center, etc.), or private home of a state-certified caregiver, referred to as a "foster parent" or with a family mem ...
.
Investigative journalist Graham Johnson records McAteer's career as beginning in 1979, when he started to forge links with Glasgow's main drug barons. He attained preferred status as a
distributor
A distributor is an enclosed rotating switch used in spark-ignition internal combustion engines that have mechanically timed ignition. The distributor's main function is to route high voltage current from the ignition coil to the spark plugs ...
in Scotland, and developed an even more profitable relationship with the Liverpool Mafia. Aside from drug dealing, McAteer reportedly became involved in
arms trafficking
Arms trafficking or gunrunning is the illicit trade of contraband small arms and ammunition, which constitutes part of a broad range of illegal activities often associated with transnational criminal organizations. The illegal trade of small a ...
,
debt collection
Debt collection is the process of pursuing payments of debts owed by individuals or businesses. An organization that specializes in debt collection is known as a collection agency or debt collector. Most collection agencies operate as agents of ...
and
protection
Protection is any measure taken to guard a thing against damage caused by outside forces. Protection can be provided to physical objects, including organisms, to systems, and to intangible things like civil and political rights. Although th ...
used car
A used car, a pre-owned vehicle, or a secondhand car, is a vehicle that has previously had one or more retail owners. Used cars are sold through a variety of outlets, including franchise and independent car dealers, rental car companies, buy ...
business.''The Cartel'' (Johnson), Chapter 40: Warren Selkirk According to Johnson and ''
Liverpool Echo
The ''Liverpool Echo'' is a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror North West & North Wales – a subsidiary company of Reach plc and is based in St Paul's Square, Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is published Monday to Sunday, and is Liverp ...
'' crime reporter Tom Duffy, McAteer also worked as a
hitman
Contract killing is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or persons. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of payment, monetary or otherwise. Either party may be ...
.
McAteer was described in the ''Liverpool Echo'' as "one of Scotland's most feared gangsters", while a senior Liverpool detective labelled him "extremely dangerous". He was known within
Merseyside
Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan county, metropolitan and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of List of ceremonial counties of England, 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Merse ...
as "Mad Jock";''The Cartel'' (Johnson), Chapter 23: Repeat "Little Hands" has been reported as an alternate nickname.
McAteer had a nomadic lifestyle, with home bases including
Maryhill
Maryhill ( gd, Cnoc Màiri) is an area of the City of Glasgow in Scotland. Maryhill is a former burgh. Maryhill stretches over along Maryhill Road.
The far north west of the area is served by Maryhill railway station.
History
Hew Hill, t ...
,
Drumchapel
Drumchapel ( gd, Druim a' Chapaill), known locally as 'The Drum', is a district in the north-west of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It borders Bearsden (in East Dunbartonshire) to the north-east and Drumry (part of Clydebank, in West Dunbarton ...
and
Leicester
Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city l ...
. He has two children.
Criminal history
Drug conviction and Bennett trial
In 1993, McAteer was arrested while in possession of an abundance of recreational drugs. He represented himself at Glasgow's High Court later that year, but was nevertheless sentenced to five years in prison. While incarcerated at HMP Glenochil in
Tullibody
Tullibody ( gd, Tulach Bòide), is a town set in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies north of the River Forth near to the foot of the Ochil Hills within the Forth Valley. The town is south-west of Alva, north-west of Alloa and east-n ...
, he had conflict with Glaswegian criminal John "Jack" Bennett, a former associate. According to the family of Bennett, he rejected McAteer's sexual advances, which led to a rift between the two.
On 28 February 1998, following both McAteer and Bennett's release from prison, the latter was killed in a daylight attack on Glasgow's Royston Road, incurring 57 stab wounds. McAteer and two other men (Robert Burke and Donald McPhail) stood trial for the murder; the prosecution posited that McAteer had put out a contract while in jail, offering "2 oz of tobacco and 50 temazepam tablets" to any inmate who killed Bennett. On 10 August a jury at Glasgow's High Court returned a
not proven
Not proven (, ) is a verdict available to a Courts of Scotland, court of law in Scotland. Under Scots law, a Criminal procedure, criminal trial may end in one of three verdicts, one of conviction ("guilty") and two of acquittal ("not proven" and ...
verdict.
Shooting arrest and further scrutiny
Later in 1998, McAteer was arrested in Merseyside on suspicion of shooting a man at a set of traffic lights in Glasgow: the incident had occurred mere yards from the site of the Bennett murder. He avoided charges when the victim refused to make a formal complaint. McAteer also became a suspect in the 1999 murder of English television presenter
Jill Dando
Jill Wendy Dando (9 November 1961 – 26 April 1999) was an English journalist, television presenter and newsreader. She spent most of her career at the BBC and was the corporation's Personality of the Year in 1997. At the time of her death, her ...
.
Selkirk murder and additional convictions
While in prison, McAteer met Liverpudlian Warren Selkirk, and later enlisted him as a drug courier. By 1999, McAteer reportedly feared that his colleague was becoming a liability, and had particular concerns over his mounting gambling debts. On 30 October, Selkirk was shot five times at Crosby Marina in North Merseyside, while his children waited for him in a nearby car; a plastic bag filled with dog
excrement
Feces ( or faeces), known colloquially and in slang as poo and poop, are the solid or semi-solid remains of food that was not digested in the small intestine, and has been broken down by bacteria in the large intestine. Feces contain a relati ...
– a sign of "contempt" – was found in his right hand. Police traced McAteer travelling from Glasgow to Liverpool by tracking his mobile phone activity, which led to his arrest. McAteer maintained his innocence, and later blamed Liverpool associate Paul Bennett for setting him up. An Irish terrorist group appeared to take responsibility for Selkirk's murder, but police determined that this was a
red herring
A red herring is a figurative expression referring to a logical fallacy in which a clue or piece of information is or is intended to be misleading, or distracting from the actual question.
Red herring may also refer to: Animals
* Red herring (fis ...
devised by McAteer.
According to ''
Observer
An observer is one who engages in observation or in watching an experiment.
Observer may also refer to:
Computer science and information theory
* In information theory, any system which receives information from an object
* State observer in con ...
'' crime correspondent Tony Thompson, McAteer threatened to shoot multiple police officers as well as anyone who testified against him: at least two criminals were given new identities under the
witness protection
Witness protection is security provided to a threatened person providing testimonial evidence to the justice system, including defendants and other clients, before, during, and after a trial, usually by police. While a witness may only require p ...
program in return for their testimony. On 5 April 2001 at
Liverpool Crown Court
The Queen Elizabeth II Law Courts, in Derby Square, Liverpool, are operated by His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service. The building is used by the Crown Court, the Magistrates' Court, Liverpool District Probate Registry and the Liverpool Yout ...
, McAteer was found guilty of murder and sentenced to
life
Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...
. He was given a concurrent five-year term for attempting to pervert the course of justice, with sentencing delayed on a further conviction of plotting to supply ecstasy and
heroin
Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brow ...
. Liverpool criminal David Baker received a four-year sentence for conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, for asking an associate to provide McAteer with a false alibi. Glaswegian James O'Neill, who had also been charged with the murder, was exonerated due to a lack of evidence.
Six months later, the drug offences – for which McAteer and seven others were originally remanded in custody by Liverpool magistrates in February 2000 – met with a 16-year sentence.
As of September 2002, McAteer was incarcerated at HMP Long Lartin in
Worcestershire
Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...
. In December 2003, he was refused permission to appeal his murder conviction. Following a 2006 review of the case at London's
Royal Courts of Justice
The Royal Courts of Justice, commonly called the Law Courts, is a court building in Westminster which houses the High Court and Court of Appeal of England and Wales. The High Court also sits on circuit and in other major cities. Designed by Ge ...
, Mr Justice Grigson ruled that McAteer must serve a minimum of 22-and-a-half years before being considered for
parole
Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...
.
Paul Ferris
Former Glasgow gangster
Paul Ferris Paul Ferris may refer to:
* Paul Ferris (composer) (1941–1995), English film composer
* Paul Ferris (footballer) (born 1965), Northern Irish former footballer and now physiotherapist
* Paul Ferris (Scottish writer) (born 1963), Scottish writer and ...
has known McAteer since childhood. In his 2005 book, ''Vendetta'', Ferris protested McAteer's innocence in relation to the murder of Selkirk, suggesting that police pinned the murder to McAteer in order to assuage grief among the city of Liverpool. He argued that McAteer's "jealous" henchman, George Bell Smith – whose ex-girlfriend was now in a relationship with McAteer – provided false testimony of his boss indicating
guilt
Guilt may refer to:
*Guilt (emotion), an emotion that occurs when a person feels that they have violated a moral standard
*Culpability, a legal term
*Guilt (law), a legal term
Music
*Guilt (album), ''Guilt'' (album), a 2009 album by Mims
*Guilt ( ...
(including the brandishing of a gun) in return for having a
child sexual abuse
Child sexual abuse (CSA), also called child molestation, is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include engaging in sexual activities with a child (whet ...
charge dropped.Ferris; McKay, Chapter 59: The Nephew McAteer's appeal would have indeed asserted that a key witness had charges against them dismissed after agreeing to give evidence.
Ferris found it implausible that McAteer, whom he described as being "so cautious as to be almost paranoid", would implicate himself in such a way, and concluded that Selkirk was killed by Irish criminals due to unpaid debts. In a 2005 interview he said: "It is common knowledge that cAteerdid not do it. Even the dogs in the street know it... he is being kept inside because of politics and nothing else."
Later life
In 2011, McAteer, alongside another former Glasgow gangster, Jamie Stevenson, raised £3,776 for Glasgow's Royal Hospital for Sick Children by running a marathon on a treadmill at HMP Shotts in
North Lanarkshire
North Lanarkshire ( sco, North Lanrikshire; gd, Siorrachd Lannraig a Tuath) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the northeast of the City of Glasgow and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs and commuter towns and villages. It also ...
. The effort was branded a "con" by the sister of Jack Bennett: she maintained McAteer's culpability for the murder of her brother.