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Ex-gangland enforcer and author Paul Ferris dies aged 62

Paul Ferris, the Glasgow gangland enforcer acquitted of the 1991 murder of Arthur Thompson Jr who later became a bestselling author, has died aged 62 after a short illness.

By Tom Ellery · · 1 min read

The neoclassical portico of the High Court of Justiciary on Saltmarket, Glasgow, with its fluted Doric columns and a Saltire flying above — the court where Paul Ferris was acquitted in 1992.
Photo: Tony Webster, via Wikimedia Commons

Paul Ferris, the former Glasgow gangland enforcer who was sensationally acquitted of the 1991 murder of Arthur “Fat Boy” Thompson Jr and later reinvented himself as a bestselling author, has died aged 62.

The Scottish Sun reports that Ferris, nicknamed “The Wee Man”, died on Tuesday night following a short illness. The Daily Record, via the Press Association, said he died on Tuesday at Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital following a short illness.

A close family friend said: “News of his death will come as a shock to many who knew him throughout the different chapters of his life. Paul went straight for 25 years and wrote several best selling books.”

Ferris rose to notoriety in the 1980s as a feared enforcer for Glasgow crime boss Arthur Thompson Sr. He was 28 when he was charged with shooting Thompson’s son dead in the city’s Blackhill area, and was sensationally acquitted in 1992 after a 54-day trial featuring 300 witnesses, which cost £4 million. He was jailed for seven years in 1998 for gun-running.

In prison he co-wrote his debut book, The Ferris Conspiracy, published in 2001. His life story was adapted into the 2013 film The Wee Man, in which he was played by Line of Duty actor Martin Compston. Compston paid tribute on Instagram after the news broke, writing: “RIP the wee man.”

Sources

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