In April 2006, a masked gunman stormed into the bustling Marmion pub in Edinburgh, clutching a sawn-off shotgun, and opened fire, killing one man and gravely wounding another. The gunman, Jamie Bain, was chased by an angry crowd who beat him with the stock of his own firearm. Bain was high on cocaine and had targeted relatives of his girlfriend Dionne Hendry, a member of the infamous Hendry family known for its violent reputation.
Background of the Feud
Bain and Dionne had been teenage lovers at Liberton High School. She became pregnant at 16, and they had a son. By 2006, Bain, then 22, was entrenched in Edinburgh's criminal underworld and involved in a dispute with a cocaine dealer. Weeks before the shooting, police warned Bain his life was under threat. He claimed he had been attacked with a machete, knocked down by a car, and nearly knifed in front of his children.
On the morning of April 22, Bain assaulted Dionne, leaving her with bruising. That evening, he consumed cocaine heavily at a flat party, obtained a stolen shotgun from Bernard Young, and went to the pub with Richard Cosgrove. Bain, wearing a hockey mask, shot James Hendry, 27, seconds after he received a drink. He then aimed at Alex McKinnon, 32, a boxing champion and Hendry's brother-in-law, who died from his wounds.
Aftermath and Prison Wedding
Bain was attacked outside the pub and spent a week in hospital. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to life with a minimum of 22 years. From prison, he said: "I honestly can't remember anything. Alex was a good friend so I can't understand why it would've happened. I cried when I was told he was dead."
In 2007, Bain launched a legal bid to become the first prisoner in Scotland to have conjugal visits. In 2014, he married Dionne at Shotts Prison. A Hendry family member said: "This is a marriage made in hell. How Dionne can flaunt the death of Alex McKinnon by marrying his killer is beyond me."
Renewed Violence
After the wedding, Edinburgh saw renewed bloodshed. Dionne's Range Rover was peppered with gunfire, and a fake bomb was planted at her doorstep. A family home in Moredun was shot up, and a second bomb was left near an associate's home. In 2008, Dionne's younger brother was imprisoned for attacking Bain's family. James Hendry, the survivor of the Marmion shooting, died suddenly in December at age 40, after previously serving time for culpable homicide.
