Latest news with #EliasMorgan
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Daily Mail
Convict accused of gunning down ex-prison guard for exposing his illegal affair with female jail officer, warned: 'I promise I'll get you', court hears
The mother of an ex-prison officer shot dead in 'retaliation' after he exposed an affair between a convict and a female officer has revealed her son was chillingly warned by the accused, 'I promise I'll get you', a court has heard. Lenny Scott, 33, was fatally injured when he was shot six times by the gunman wearing a hi-vis jacket outside a gym on Peel Road in Skelmersdale, West Lancashire, on February 8 2024. Alleged gunman Elias Morgan is accused of shooting the father-of-three after Mr Scott exposed an illicit relationship involving him and a female officer at HMP Altcourse, Preston Crown Court heard. The alleged threat made four years before Mr Scott's death was 'the first thing that came to mind', his mother told police after the killing. Alex Leach KC, prosecuting, told the jury that after Mr Scott refused a £1,500 offer to not report a phone containing evidence of the relationship, Morgan told him: 'I'll bide my time, but I promise I will get you' before making a gun gesture. Co-defendant Anthony Cleary is alleged to have assisted Morgan in the 'revenge plot' by 'delivering the van and bike so they could be used by a gunman who intended to kill Lenny Scott'. Both men deny murder, while Cleary also denies a second charge of manslaughter. The court heard a pre-recorded police interview on Thursday from Mr Scott's mother, Paula. She told the officer her son 'liked to do things to speak up'. But she said he had also complained about 'corrupt prison officers' during his time working in prisons in Birmingham and HMP Altcourse. Mrs Scott told the detective that 2020 was 'a bad year' for her son, which included him being threatened in March. She told the interviewer that Mr Scott's partner, Lucy Griffiths, had rung her and said there had been a problem at work. She said: 'The police were involved and he had a threat and they knew their home address. I think Lenny played it down with me. 'He was definitely rattled by fire service came and fitted alarms just in case there was anything thrown at the house. 'He was definitely upset by it and worried about the children. In the threat it said about his home address and they even named the children. It wasn't difficult as he had their names on his arm. 'I asked "is everything okay" and he said yes, the police were involved. He said he had to go into a cell and they found a phone. 'The lad threatened him and somebody else he was with. He said along the lines of "you're done for" but I couldn't swear by the was second guessing things, he was making a joke about things but it wasn't. It changed things for him from then. 'He said "you don't know what it's like working there, you don't understand how little they value my life". He didn't feel supported by it. 'Before then he felt like nothing could get to him but after he started thinking he had children. It just rattled him. 'However, he still got on with work and went everyday and tried his best. He used to tell me there were corrupt prison officers. It sort of changed his opinion of the Prison Service after that threat.' Mrs Scott told the court her son was suspended from his role as a prison officer after he punched an inmate during an unrelated incident. She said he told her: 'The last year I have had to deal with corrupt prison officers and they have now turned on me'. He was later dismissed over the same incident. Mrs Scott told the court that the corrupt officer in question was a 'female officer called Sarah'. The court heard Mr Scott was asked twice to be a witness and his mum 'assumed it was in relation to the threat and the corrupt prison officer'. However, the court heard Mr Scott didn't want to 'put his family in jeopardy by going and being a witness'. Mrs Scott added: 'He would have been a witness and done anything if he was still at the prison,' but felt unsupported following his dismissal. On the day of her son's killing, Mrs Scott said he had picked up one of his children from school because they were ill, before dropping him at Ms Griffiths' house. He then went to the gym at Peel House in Skelmersdale where he trained in ju-jitsu. Mrs Scott said: 'I sent him a text saying I was going to pick up some medicine. He said I've taken him to Lucy's and I'm going to the gym. 'He must have been going in when I texted him and said "have you fed the dog?" He rang and said he hadn't. That was the last time I spoke with him.' She added she phoned Merseyside Police at around 10pm to ask for some advice when she hadn't heard from him for some time. Officers from Lancashire Constabulary arrived at her house shortly before 2am the next morning. She told the detective: 'I don't know why but from the second they said he had been shot, we don't know people who live in that world, but straight away that prison came to light. 'I think a detective came out that night and I'm almost certain I told him about the prison straight away. It's the only thing you think. It's the only time he has mixed with people like that.' She added: 'As part of prison life they get threats but they aren't substantial. There would definitely be comments like 'I know where you park your car' but he just brushed those off. It was just a way of life. 'The minute after I found out about this, the first thing that came to my mind was that threat. There was nothing else that came close.' Mrs Scott said at the time of her son's death he was 'in his best job' working for Gousto and 'was in the best place really'. She earlier told the court how her son had previously been a firefighter in the RAF, before working a number of jobs before joining the Prison Service. She said the dad-of-three was a 'homebody' who had a 'passion for animals'. Opening the case earlier this week, Mr Leach told the court that Mr Scott found the phone in Morgan's cell on March 26 2020. The court heard not only was possession of the phone a criminal offence, but 'Morgan knew there was evidence on it which would lead to the discovery of a sexual relationship between him and a female prison officer'. The prosecution alleged Morgan made a number of threats towards Mr Scott, including that a car was outside his family home. Mr Scott's manager at the prison, John Davies, wrote in a statement that 'the way Lenny reacted is something I have never heard or seen before'. When the iPhone was examined, it 'revealed Elias Morgan was engaged in a sexual relationship with another prison officer, Sarah Williams', the court heard. Mr Leach added: 'It was clear that she had provided Elias Morgan with details about other prisoners. The court heard Mr Scott gave a witness statement and Morgan was arrested and interviewed under caution. Morgan, who had been moved away from Mr Scott's wing 10 days after the 'threats', was remanded back into custody between July 2021 and October 2022 - and in April 2023 was charged with unauthorised possession of the mobile phone. Williams admitted three offences of misconduct in a public officer and a computer misuse offence. Morgan pleaded not guilty - and his case was adjourned until February 19 - 11 days after Mr Scott was killed. Mr Leach said: 'On the 8th February 2024, almost four years later, Lenny Scott was coming out of his gym at Peel House in Skelmersdale when he was approached by a man wearing a high-visibility jacket and carrying a handgun. 'The man shot him, six times, to the head and body. Lenny Scott died of his injuries. The man travelled to and escaped from the scene on an electric motorbike, which he loaded onto the back of a van, a short distance away, before driving back towards Liverpool. The murder was, the prosecution says, an act of retaliation. 'The prosecution says that once you've heard the evidence, you will be sure that, at the very least, Elias Morgan orchestrated Lenny Scott's murder, recruiting Anthony Cleary to assist him in doing so. 'That alone would make him guilty of murder on count one. 'Moreover, the prosecution say, when you've examined the fine detail of the evidence, you will be sure not only that Elias Morgan is guilty of murder by organising the killing of Lenny Scott, you will be sure that it was he who pulled the trigger himself. 'For his part, Anthony Cleary, the second defendant, played a supporting role. Acting on instructions, he delivered the van, containing the electric motorbike used by the gunman, to a housing estate close to the gym. 'Moreover, he knew that he was delivering the van and bike so that they could be used by a gunman who intended to kill Lenny Scott, or at least to cause him really serious harm.' Mr Leach told the jury: 'The evidence you are about to hear, when examined in detail, reveals a powerful image, one in which Elias Morgan, driven by a desire for revenge and reliant on Anthony Cleary for his assistance, planned and executed the murder of Lenny Scott. Both men, the prosecution says, are guilty of his murder.' The trial of Morgan, 35 and Cleary, 29, continues.
BBC News
2 days ago
- BBC News
Murder-accused inmate 'described Lenny Scott's family to him'
An inmate described a serving prison officer's children and girlfriend "to a tee" in a series of threats four years before he was murdered, a court has heard Lenny Scott told a police call handler he was "in fear for my family's life" after prisoner Elias Morgan said he had "lads everywhere" and that his house was being Morgan, now 35, is on trial at Preston Crown Court accused of shooting Mr Scott outside a gym in Skelmersdale, Lancashire, on 8 February 2024. The prosecution allege it was an "act of retaliation" after Mr Scott seized a mobile phone from Mr Morgan's cell at HMP Altcourse in Liverpool in March 2020. Jurors heard the phone contained evidence of Mr Morgan having a sexual affair with a prison officer called Sarah Williams, resulting in both of them being prosecuted. Prosecutor Alex Leach KC said that when Mr Scott refused a £1,500 offer to "lose" the phone, Mr Morgan responded with "powerfully made" allegedly left the experienced prison officer feeling "very frightened". Mr Scott was dismissed from the prison service for unrelated reasons in 2021. A recording of a 101 telephone call made by Mr Scott to Merseyside Police on 30 March 2020 - four days after he seized the phone - was played to the Scott began the call by explaining that he was a prison said a car, sent by an inmate, had been "sat outside my house all weekend". Mr Scott told the call handler that the prisoner had been "threatening my family". When she asked who had made the threat, Mr Scott replied: "Elias Morgan. He's described my family and me to a tee, described my house."Mr Scott said the threats came after he had "nicked" Mr Morgan "for a phone". The prison officer said: "Until I 'drop' that, he said they're staying there and they're just going to constantly be around my house, and I'm just in fear for my family's life." 'This is real' Mr Scott went on to explain that Mr Morgan had described his vehicle, his twin boys, his girlfriend and his house accurately. The call handler asked if Mr Morgan could be "chatting" over this, meaning not making serious threats. "No, I believe this is real," Mr Scott replied. "This is my third jail, I've been threatened all the time, but this is a bit..."The call handler interjected: "Too close to home?""Yeah," Mr Scott replied. Earlier this week jurors were told a gunman, wearing a high-visibility jacket, approached Mr Scott outside a gym on Peel Road in Skelmersdale and shot him once in the head and five times to the body. The prosecution claim Mr Morgan was the gunman and that he was supported by co-accused Anthony Cleary, 29, who allegedly left a van and electric bike for Mr Morgan near the Morgan, of Highgate Street, and Mr Cleary, of Smithdown Lane, both in the Edge Hill area of Liverpool, deny Cleary also denies an alternative charge of trial continues. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on BBC Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram, and watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer.
BBC News
3 days ago
- BBC News
Tears as moment prison officer Lenny Scott shot dead shown to jury
The family of a former prison officer shot dead in an "act of retaliation" wiped away tears in court as a video of the moment he was ambushed was played to a Scott, 33, was targeted outside a gym in Skelmersdale, Lancashire, on 8 February 2024 - four years after seizing a phone from the cell of then-prisoner Elias Morgan at HMP Altcourse in phone contained evidence of a sexual relationship between Mr Morgan and a prison officer called Sarah Williams, and the jury heard how the prisoner had made "serious" threats to Mr Scott after he refused a £1,500 offer to "lose it". Mr Morgan, 35, denies murder and is standing trial at Preston Crown Court alongside Anthony Cleary, 29, who is accused of helping arrange the shooting and also denies murder. Alex Leach KC, prosecuting, continued opening the case on Wednesday, telling the jury the evidence revealed a "powerful image". "One in which Elias Morgan, driven by a desire for revenge and reliant on Anthony Cleary for his assistance, planned and executed the murder of Lenny Scott," he said. He played a CCTV clip showing Mr Scott emerging from the gym, in an industrial estate on Peel Road, at 19:42 GMT where he stood by his car chatting to another killer, wearing an orange high-visibility vest, could be seen walking up to the two men and pointing a handgun at Mr Scott, before six loud bangs rang out. Mr Scott tried to run but collapsed just out of frame as other witnesses ran for cover and the gunman fled on an electric bike. A woman in the public gallery wiped her eyes as the footage was played. The jury heard before the shooting Mr Morgan had allegedly driven to the Darfield estate, a short distance away from the complex containing the gym, in a Mercedes GLC car previously insured in his mother's name. Mr Leach said the car arrived at 17:48 GMT, and a few minutes later CCTV showed a figure walking from Darfield to the nearby Daybrook estate. Timeline The jury had heard on that estate was a white Vauxhall Combo van, which had been dropped off around 40 minutes earlier on the back of a low-loader truck. Mr Leach said in the back of that van was a black Sur Ron electric bike, and the prosecution case was that it had been taken to the area by Mr said at 18:06 CCTV showed the bike doing a "dry run" to the gym and back to the estate using ginnels and alleyways. Mr Leach said the man suspected to be Mr Morgan then walked back to the Mercedes and drove it to nearby Denholme street, from where he allegedly collected it a few days after the shooting. At 18:45 the bike returned to the car park of the gym where the gunman waited for Mr Scott to finish his gym Leach said after killing Mr Scott, the gunman rode the bike back onto the Daybrook estate and loaded it into the van, which he then drove out of Skelmersdale. The jury also heard the van was later found to have been registered to a cleaning company called EDM Cleaning Ltd, run by Mr Morgan's brother Ezra Morgan. At 23:05 that evening a WhatsApp call from a phone linked to Mr Morgan was made to Mr Cleary - who had been captured on CCTV in the Birmingham area at the time of the shooting ruling him out as the Leach said when Mr Cleary's phone was analysed by police experts, they found Google searches had been made for "Skem news now" a few minutes after that call. At 23:26, Mr Cleary also accessed a Tweet posted by an account called SkemPolice - which described how officers were investigating a reported "firearms discharge" in the Peel Road area. Mr Leach said the Mercedes was eventually recovered by police on 17 February 2024 on Ivydale Road in Mossley Hill, Liverpool, fitted with false number plates. The jury heard Mr Morgan's finger prints were on those number plates, and his DNA was found inside the car. After Mr Morgan was arrested in June 2024, searches were carried out at his family home in Highgate Street, Edge Hill and his flat in Irwell Chambers, Liverpool city centre. Police found a charger and paperwork for a Sur Ron bike in the properties, and the key for the Mercedes in a communal area outside the flat. Mr Cleary, of Smithdown Lane in Edge Hill, also denies an alternative count of manslaughter. The trial continues. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on BBC Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram, and watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer.
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Daily Mail
Former prison guard was shot dead outside gym after he exposed a convict and female officer's illicit relationship, court hears
A former prison guard was shot dead in 'retaliation' after he exposed an illicit relationship between a convict and a female officer, a jury heard yesterday. Lenny Scott, who was the father of twins, was shot six times outside a gym on February 8 last year by a gunman dressed in a hi-vis jacket. The roots of the 33-year-old's killing lay in his former job at Altcourse prison in Liverpool nearly four years earlier, a murder trial jury was told. Mr Scott had searched inmate Elias Morgan's cell and found a mobile phone on March 26, 2020, Preston Crown Court was told. Not only was possession of the phone a criminal offence, but Morgan knew it contained evidence which would expose his sexual relationship with prison officer Sarah Williams, prosecutor Alex Leach KC said. Morgan told Mr Scott to 'balls up the paperwork' and even offered him £1,500 not to report it, jurors were told. But the prison officer submitted the paperwork - and from that moment 'Elias Morgan told Lenny Scott that he would get him, he said he would bide his time, but that he would get him'. Mr Leach told jurors that on February 8, 2024 Mr Scott was leaving a gym in Skelmersdale, Lancashire 'when he was approached by a man wearing a high-visibility jacket and carrying a handgun'. 'The man shot him, six times, to the head and body,' he said. 'Lenny Scott died of his injuries. 'The murder was, the prosecution says, an act of retaliation.' He told jurors that the evidence would show that Morgan 'orchestrated' the murder and 'pulled the trigger himself'. Co-defendant Anthony Cleary 'played a supporting role' by using a van to deliver an electric motorbike used by the gunman, he added. The court heard in the days after Mr Scott found the phone, he reported being threatened by Morgan. He told his father that Morgan had said words to the effect of 'I'll bide my time, but I promise I will get you' before making a gun gesture towards him. A 'visibly frightened' Mr Scott also told his former partner that Morgan had threatened him that his 'home would be blown up with his family inside'. Four days later he told a police call hander: 'I'm in fear for my family's life'. The jury heard he also reported the 'threats' to the Prison Service, saying Morgan had told him his family would be hurt if he did not 'drop' the illegal phone matter. Instead the phone was examined and Morgan was arrested, later being charged with unauthorised possession of the mobile phone. Williams, the officer with whom he'd had a relationship, later admitted three offences of misconduct in a public officer and a computer misuse offence. Morgan pleaded not guilty and his case was adjourned until February 19 - 11 days after Mr Scott was killed. Jurors were told that mobile phone evidence shows the two men spent January 3 as a 'day of reconnaissance' as part of the plan to kill Mr Scott. They visited locations including the area of his home as well as gyms he formerly and currently attended. The court heard Mr Scott had been dismissed from the Prison Service in 2021 after he punched a prisoner in the face in an unrelated incident. Morgan, now 35, and Cleary, 29, both of Edge Hill, Liverpool, both deny murder. Cleary also denies a second count of manslaughter. The trial continues.
BBC News
4 days ago
- BBC News
HMP Altcourse prison officer shot in 'revenge plot', jury told
A former prison officer was shot dead in an "act of retaliation" four years after seizing a mobile phone from a prisoner's cell, a jury heard. Lenny Scott, 33, was ambushed in the car-park of a gym in Skelmersdale, Lancashire, and shot six times with a handgun on 8 February 2024. Images on the phone exposed a "sexual relationship" between inmate Elias Morgan and another prison officer, Sarah Williams, at HMP Altcourse in Liverpool resulting in them both being prosecuted, Preston Crown Court heard. Mr Morgan, 35, and his co-accused Anthony Cleary, 29, both from the Edge Hill area of Liverpool, have denied Mr Scott's murder, while Mr Cleary also denies an alternative count of manslaughter. At the opening of their trial earlier, the jury heard Mr Scott left the gym on Peel Road at 19:34 GMT on the evening of his death and walked towards his car. The gunman, wearing a high-visibility jacket, was recorded on CCTV approaching Mr Scott before opening fire - striking him in the head and body. After the shooting, the killer fled on an electric bike which had earlier been left on the Daybrook housing estate, close to the gym, in the back of a white van. The prosecution claims the van had been transported there on a low-loader truck driven by Mr Cleary, who left it there for Mr Morgan to collect. Mr Morgan then drove himself to the estate in a Mercedes GLC car insured in his mother's name, parked up and collected the bike, the jury heard. Alex Leach KC, prosecuting, suggested the shooting was motivated by a search Mr Scott had carried out of Mr Morgan's cell on 26 March 2020, when he found the "incriminating" iPhone containing evidence of the affair with Ms jury heard Mr Scott refused Mr Morgan's offer of £1,500 not to submit the phone to his Leach said the inmate then "went to very considerable lengths to threaten harm to Lenny Scott and his family" if he handed the phone over. "For his part, Lenny Scott was not to be deterred," Mr Leach said. "He submitted the telephone and prosecutions followed. Elias Morgan told Lenny Scott that he would get him, he said he would bide his time, but that he would get him." Mr Scott, the jury heard, told his family and colleagues that Mr Morgan had accurately recited his address, named his three children, and threatened that his "house would be blown up with his children inside". Mr Scott also called Merseyside Police four days after seizing the phone to report the threats. A recording of the call was played in court, which included Mr Scott telling the police call handler he was "in fear for my family's life". Mr Leach said Mr Morgan was moved to a different wing of the prison 10 days after the phone was seized, and there was no evidence the two men had any further contact. 'Reconnaissance trip' Mr Morgan was released from HMP Altcourse in October 2020, and the following year Mr Scott was sacked from the prison service for punching a prisoner in the face. Mr Leach said in June 2023, Sarah Williams pleaded guilty to three counts of misconduct in a public office based partly on her affair with Mr Morgan, however, pleaded not guilty to unauthorised possession of the mobile phone and was bailed to stand trial on 19 February 2024. The jury heard that on 3 January 2024, Mr Morgan and other "unidentified men" carried out a "reconnaissance trip" at three locations linked to Mr Scott in a Ford Fiesta registered and insured in the defendant's name. They included his home address in Prescot, The Mecca Gym in Speke which Mr Scott had visited previously, and the gym at Peel House where the shooting would take place. The trial continues. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
