A former inmate has been convicted of murdering a prison officer in a revenge killing, four years after threatening, 'I promise I will get you.' Elias Morgan, 35, shot Lenny Scott, a former officer at HMP Altcourse, six times outside a gym in Skelmersdale, Lancashire, on 8 February 2024.
The attack was retaliation for Scott discovering an illicit mobile phone in Morgan's cell in March 2020, which exposed Morgan's affair with a female prison guard. Morgan offered Scott £1,500 to dispose of the phone and, when that failed, made threats, including a gun gesture with his fingers.
Preston Crown Court heard that Morgan scouted locations in Merseyside and Lancashire where Scott might be found, planning the 'cold-blooded' murder after completing a sentence for drug offences. Scott, a father of three, had since left the Prison Service.
In 2020, Scott reported Morgan's threats to police, describing how Morgan had accurately described his home, partner, and twin boys. Scott told the operator the threats were 'too close to home.' Morgan was due to stand trial for possessing the phone just 11 days after the shooting.
Wendy Logan, deputy head of the CPS north west complex casework unit, said: 'Lenny Scott was a devoted father who bravely upheld his duty... Morgan – driven by revenge and believing he was above the law – carried out a cold-blooded murder.' A second defendant, Anthony Cleary, was cleared of charges.
