Lenny’s last words: ‘Who's that in the mask?’

THIS is the moment a gunman twisted by a desire for revenge opened fire, murdering a former prison officer and dad-of-three.

- BY PATRICK EDRICH

Elias Morgan, 35, of Edge Hill, was unanimously convicted of the murder of Lenny Scott last Friday at Preston Crown Court.

Former HMP Altcourse prison officer Mr Scott died aged 33 after he was shot six times by a gunman wearing a mask and a hi-vis jacket outside a gym on Peel Road in Skelmersdale on February 8 last year. Morgan was alleged to have been the man who pulled the trigger in an “act of retaliation’, which came nearly four years after the officer exposed an illicit relationship between the then serving prisoner and a female prison guard.

Mr Scott, of Prescot, was said to have refused a bribe of £1,500 in return for not reporting a phone which Morgan illegally held behind bars and contained evidence of the affair. Morgan, of Highgate Street, later apparently warned Mr Scott “I'll bide my time, but I promise I will get you”.

Morgan denied murder, telling the court he was at a house in Liverpool giving an associate a chow chow dog to take care of at the time of the shooting. However, an 11-person jury, made up of eight men and three women, convicted Morgan this afternoon, Friday, August 29 after five hours and 24 minutes of deliberations. He will be given a life sentence when he appears back for sentencing on Tuesday.

Mr Scott was murdered as he left the gym after a jujitsu session. Morgan, who had previously spent weeks performing “reconnaissance” on Mr Scott, waited in the complex’s car park before approaching his target.