A decorated Iraq war veteran who shot dead a Bangladeshi waiter in front of diners as a teenager 14 years ago has been jailed for life.
Michael Ross, 30, was 15 years old when he burst into a restaurant on Orkney wearing a balaclava, shot Shamsuddin Mahmood in the face and fled. Police found no scientific proof nor the gun that was used.
The Black Watch soldier remained stoney-faced in the dock as he was told by judge Lord Hardie he must spend a minimum of 25 years behind bars before being eligible for parole.
Lord Hardie told him: "This was a vicious, evil, unprovoked murder of a defenceless man. The attack was a premeditated assassination.
"The evidence disclosed that you held racist views and sympathy for Nazi Germany.These views were not only abhorrent but an insult to the memory of those including members of your own distinguished regiment, who sacrificed their lives in opposition to them and in support of democratic principles."
Mr Mahmood's murder was a "great loss to his family and friends and the people he served", Lord Hardie concluded.
Ross was convicted in June of the "savage, merciless and pointless" murder on circumstantial evidence alone, following a five-week trial at the High Court in Glasgow.
The court had previously heard that at around 7pm on June 2, 1994, Ross walked into the Mumutaz restaurant in Kirkwall, which was full of diners, including families with children.
He strode up to Mr Mahmood, 26, pointed a pistol at him, fired and turned and walked out before his victim fell to the ground. Ross ran off down a lane to a lavatory where he changed his clothes.
The main evidence was a 9mm bullet, which, unknown to Ross, was extremely unusual military ammunition. In another twist, the firearms expert given the job of examining it was the killer's father, Pc Eddie Ross.
He checked all 9mm guns on the island but concluded that none was capable of firing the bullet and said that he could not find the same type of ammunition.
Pc Ross later admitted owning a sealed box of similar bullets, given to him by James Spence, a retired Royal Marine and roadsweeper.
Ross Snr claimed there was only one box, but Mr Spence told police that he had supplied two - one of which was open. He claimed Ross Snr had asked him to lie on three occasions about the bullets.
Ross Snr, 57, received a four-year jail sentence in 1997 after being found guilty of attempting to pervert the course of justice. He spent two years in prison.
Suspicion fell on his son, whose description matched that of the gunman. Jurors head that Ross had a passion for guns and the military from an early age.
Prosecutors claimed that the then 15-year-old was a racist and was determined to hunt down and murder one of the island's few Asian residents.
But the case against Ross was circumstantial and over the following 12 years he built a new life, joining the Army at 16 and gaining promotion to sergeant.
He married and had two children. In 2005 he was decorated for outstanding service in Iraq.
The following year a witness, William Grant, told police that he saw Ross, with a pistol, come out of a cubicle at the public lavatory on the night of the murder. Mr Grant kept the encounter secret until the guilt became too much for him to bear.
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