Glasgow man jailed for throwing acid at journalist

Tuesday, 27 June 2017 16:00

A career criminal from Glasgow has been jailed for hurling acid at a journalist.

William “Basil” Burns attacked Russell Findlay on the doorstep of the journalist’s home in Glasgow's west end in December 2015.

The victim was lucky not to be blinded as Burns, disguised as a postman, threw sulphuric acid at the 44-year-old.

Burns claimed in court that the journalist had told him he had a compromising photo of the 56-year-old with a young blonde woman. He also claimed that he had only turned up at the door so that he could “beat up” Findlay and that the victim must have thrown the acid on his own face.

Burns is no stranger to jail-time, having been sentenced in 2001 for 15 years for gunning down a woman during a post office robbery and before that serving six years for threatening a security guard with a gun after he stole a cake from a Marks and Spencer store.

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