A man sentenced to a minimum of 20 years in jail for a gangland murder has had his case referred to the Court of Criminal Appeal.
William Gage, 37, was convicted in 2004 of the murder of Justin McAlroy by shooting him five times at his home in Cambuslang in Lanarkshire. But the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission has asked the Court of Criminal Appeal to re-examine the conviction.
William Gage is serving a minimum of 20 years behind bars for the murder of 28-year-old Justin McAlroy. In March 2002 he was shot five times outside his home in a row over a £50,000 drug debt. Mr Gage has always said he was innocent, and now the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission said a miscarriage of justice may have occurred.
Solicitor Aamer Anwar said: "We welcome the decision, the SCCRC believes that Mr Gage may be the victim of a miscarriage of justice and it is in the interests of justice that the case goes back to the Court of Appeal.
"It has been five long hard years for Mr Gage who has always protested and maintained his innocence since the beginning. This is a positive step forward but there is still a long road ahead."
At the trial McAlroy's wife Tracey told the court 'she would never forget those eyes' before identifying Gage in court as the killer.
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William Gage report from 2005 (video)
She had initially told police she only glimpsed the killer as he ran away. Witnesses at the trial described the hitman as being five feet ten tall with a round face and cropped hair, but Mr Gage is six feet two, thin and had long hair at the time.
The gunman was said to be wearing a padded jacket but it was the discovery of a thin cagoule with Gage's DNA that helped convict him. The cagoule was found in a burned white Saab that had been sold by Gage a couple of months earlier.
The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission said: "The absence of specific directions to the jury regarding the dock identification amounts to a misdirection and may have given rise to a miscarriage of justice."
They went on to say that "The applicant's trial may have been unfair" in relation to the way in which evidence was dealt with.
In 2006, the appeal court rejected Mr Gage's claims of innocence. He has questioned the alleged links between the deceased and senior Labour politicians.
More questions about the robustness of the Crown case are posed by this appeal. Gage has already been incarcerated for seven years. Now he hopes the clock is ticking on the countdown to his freedom.
Last updated: 12 June 2009, 19:11
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