Paul Ferris, former Glasgow crime figure, dies aged 62

Paul Ferris, the former Glasgow gangland figure who became an author after serving a prison sentence, died aged 62 on Tuesday, October 6, following a short illness, according to reports. He died at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow. No specific medical cause of death has been publicly confirmed in the accounts provided. Ferris came to wider public attention after being charged with the 1991 murder of Arthur Thompson Jr, the son of crime figure Arthur Thompson Sr. Ferris was acquitted at the High Court in Glasgow in 1992 after a trial that lasted 54 days. Reports put its cost at about £4 million, though that figure has not been independently established in the material reviewed. In a separate case, Ferris was convicted in 1998 at the Old Bailey in London of firearms and explosives offences. He received a 10-year sentence, later reduced to seven years on appeal. The conviction followed an investigation into the movement and sale of prohibited weapons. The murder acquittal and later firearms conviction were distinct legal outcomes. Ferris began writing while in prison.