Paul Ferris

Paul John Ferris (born 10 November 1963 ) is a Scottish author and organised crime figure.

Paul Ferris was born on 10 November 1963 in the Blackhill district of Glasgow to a Protestant father and a Catholic mother, and was raised as a Catholic.

Ferris was the youngest of six children, with one older brother Billy and four sisters Carol, Cath, Janet and Maureen.

Ferris was bullied for several years by members of a local criminal family, the Welshes, which is thought to have resulted in him developing the skin disorder psoriasis.

He has known Glasgow gangland figure Ian McAteer since childhood.

Ferris began his life of crime as a teenager with a series of revenge knife attacks on the Welsh brothers, and was arrested aged 17 for assault and robbery and sent to Longriggend Remand Centre.

He was bailed after several weeks, and while awaiting trial fled from the police after a car chase, as the car he was travelling in contained a shotgun and knives.

After several weeks on the run, Ferris was captured by the police and returned to Longriggend to await trial.

At his trial for the assault and robbery charges he was sentenced to three months in Glenochil Detention Centre.

After his release from Glenochil he returned to court to face charges relating to the car chase, and was sentenced to a year in Glenochil Young Offenders Institution.

Several weeks after the end of his sentence he was arrested while attempting to rob a jeweller's shop and returned to Longriggend.

Upon his release he continued to take his revenge on the Welsh brothers, which brought him to the attention of Glasgow underworld figure Arthur Thompson, known as "The Godfather".

Ferris became involved with Thompson's crime empire aged 19, when he became an enforcer, collecting debts on behalf of Thompson, and carried out stabbings, slashings, blindings and knee-cappings.

A year later Ferris was arrested following an incident where shots were fired at Willie Gibson and four of his relatives while they were travelling home from a night at a pub, with Gibson's cousin John Hogg sustaining a bullet wound to his thigh.

The three relatives failed to identify Ferris at an identity parade, but Gibson picked him out as the man who fired the shots.

Ferris was charged with four counts of attempted murder, and was remanded to Longriggend.

At his trial several months later he was acquitted on all four counts with a not proven verdict.

Now aged 21, Ferris immediately returned to his work as an enforcer for Thompson, and was soon arrested again and charged with possession of offensive weapons after a pickaxe handle and knives were found in his car.

While awaiting trial he was involved in a stabbing, and fled to Thompson's holiday home in Rothesay on the Isle of Bute.

Within a day of arriving there, he was arrested by armed police and charged with various offences including attempted murder and possession of heroin with intent to supply, and was remanded to HM Prison Barlinnie.

The attempted murder charge was dropped a week later and Ferris was found not guilty of the drugs charge, but he received an 18-month sentence for possession of offensive weapons.

After being released from prison Ferris stopped working for Thompson and started a company named Cottage Conservatories specialising in double glazing and conservatories, but still remained active in the criminal underworld.

Ferris was an enforcer for Glasgow 'Godfather' Arthur Thompson in the early 1980s.

Known for his ruthlessness and extreme violence, he rose to a prominent position in the city's criminal underworld.

He served a prison sentence for weapons possession in 1984 and believed he had been betrayed by the Thompsons.

In 1991 Thompson's son, Arthur Jr, was shot dead.

Ferris was charged with his murder and subsequently found not guilty after what was the longest criminal trial in Scottish history at that time.

On 18 August 1991 Thompson's son, Arthur Jr (nicknamed "Fat Boy") died after being shot outside his home.

Ferris was arrested following the killing, and was charged with murder and remanded to HM Prison Barlinnie.

On the day of Thompson Jr's funeral the cortege passed a car containing the bodies of two friends of Ferris, Robert Glover and Joe "Bananas" Hanlon, who were also suspected of involvement in his death, and had been killed by gunshots to the head.

At his trial in 1992 Ferris was defended by Donald Findlay, on the following charges:

Over 300 witnesses were called to give evidence at a trial which lasted fifty four days and cost £4 million, at the time the longest and most expensive trial in Scottish legal history, and ended in Ferris being acquitted of all charges.

After the trial Ferris returned to Glasgow and set up a car dealership named Jagger Autos, and also became a consultant for security firm Premier Security, which had a reported annual turnover of £6.2 million.

He also maintained contacts in the underworld, including Paul Massey and Rab Carruthers in the north of England.

In 1993 his brother Billy escaped from a prison escort after being allowed temporary release to visit his sick father, and was one of the six most wanted men in Britain until being captured in Blackpool.

Later that year, Ferris accused the police of having a vendetta against his family after Billy was refused permission to attend the funeral of their father.

He was imprisoned again from 1998 to 2002 for trading in firearms and possessing explosives.

Ferris was also involved in a long-running feud with Tam McGraw.

His first book was published in 2001 while he was in prison.

Since his release he has written three more books about crime, and has been involved in the security industry.