William 'Basil' Burns, the hitman who threw sulphuric acid in the face of prominent Scots journalist Russell Findlay, is set to be released from prison this week. Burns attacked Findlay on the doorstep of his Glasgow west end home in December 2015, disguised as a postman.
Attack and sentencing
Burns, who had multiple previous convictions for violence, was found guilty in 2017 of assaulting his victim to the danger of his life and sentenced to 15 years behind bars. Findlay, a former Sunday Mail crime reporter, recovered from the attack and was elected as a Scottish Conservative MSP in 2021, becoming party leader in 2024.
Release and threats
Findlay revealed today his attacker is due to be released from jail. In a statement, he said: 'He's the hitman who came to my home and threw sulphuric acid in my face in 2015. He's due to be released from prison on Wednesday. Two years ago Police Scotland warned me about a possible new threat to my safety. This threat stemmed from an associate of Burns, who's a member of a major Scottish drugs gang. I take my personal safety seriously, but will not be intimidated by cowardly gangland cretins.'
Calls for murder investigations
Findlay also made a fresh plea for Police Scotland and prosecutors to review the alleged connections between Burns and his associates with four unsolved murders in the west of Scotland in the mid-1990s. In a letter to the national constabulary in 2024, the Scots Tory leader wrote that it was 'a matter of public record' that Burns stood trial in 1994 for the murder of Raymond McCafferty, 23, and was acquitted. The MSP continued: 'No one else was convicted. However, over recent years, I have acquired significant new information. I now understand that Burns was also suspected of … being involved in the murders of three other men.'
Findlay explained the second case was the killing in 1995 of Andrew McLaughlin, 31, who was shot dead at the door of his home in Linwood, Renfrewshire. He said: 'I understand Burns and other men may have been charged but no prosecution followed.' The third murder he raised was the gunning down, also in 1995, of Kenneth Greenlees, 24, from nearby Johnstone, Renfrewshire, who had been due to give evidence at a drugs trial. And Findlay said the fourth cold-case slaying was the shooting dead of Billy Weatherall, 32, of Glasgow, in February 1996. He wrote that the victim 'had been due to give evidence against a Burns associate and others. There was no prosecution.'
Previous convictions
In 2001, Burns was jailed for 15 years for brutally gunning down a woman during a post office robbery in Linwood, Renfrewshire. In 1996, Burns was locked up for six years for threatening a security guard with a gun after he stole a cake from a Marks and Spencer store in Paisley. He also has previous convictions for assault, firearms and carrying offensive weapons. Burns had been freed early from the 15 year jail term when he attacked Findlay in 2015. The sentence had been due to expire in July 2016 – months after he struck in this latest crime. The Record has asked Police Scotland and the Scottish Prison Service for comment.
