This page was last updated on 30 September 2021

Click here to 
Print this page

Biography finder

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

 

 

Index of first names

William Douglas

 

 

 

 

 

William Douglas, of Sinclair Street, paisley, was sentenced to life for the murder of Frederick Hutton in June 2007.

Then 26, he was branded nothing more than a "common criminal" and a "vigilante", and will have to serve a minimum of 18 years in jail for the 2 November crime.

His cohort, Scott Harper, 22, was jailed for 14 years for culpable homicide, after the pair were convicted by a jury last month.

There were tears as Lord Hardie read out the sentence for the Greenock killers. Mr Hutton"s family were too distressed to comment outside the court

Dad-of-three Douglas, of Sinclair Street, will not be freed until at least 2024, while dad-of-two Harper, of Clydeview Road, will not be released before 2020.

In the early hours of 2 November last year, Frederick Hutton was fatally stabbed in the groin as he opened the front door of his home in Corlic Street.

But it wasn"t enough for Douglas and Harper to leave the 55-year-old in a pool of blood, and both tried to murder his half-brother, Charles Coyle.

Douglas claimed Mr Coyle had abused him as a child - an allegation denied in court - and went to the scene armed with a knife he usually kept under his pillow.

Lord Hardie said: 'There is no place for vigilantes in our society and that"s what you decided to do.

'And even if there was any truth in the allegation you were making about Charles Coyle, you were not entitled to be accuser, judge and executioner.

'You are nothing more than common criminals. This was an unprovoked attack on an innocent victim.'

Detective Chief Inspector Bobby Shaw, who led the murder inquiry, said: 'At the end of the day, justice has been done in a tragic and vicious murder, particularly when the victim was completely innocent.

'I think there will be some closure for the family.'

Douglas and Harper were each jailed for 12 years for the attempted murder of Charles Coyle and two breach of the peace charges. This will be served concurrently with their punishments for the death of Frederick Hutton.

Source: Greenock Telegraph 16 Jun 07

In December 2012, William Douglas, now 29, was suspected of trying to smuggle in drugs after a visit. this led to a 3-day lock-down in Addiewell Prison.

 



 

 

 

 

Any contributions will be gratefully accepted



 

 

Errors and Omissions

The Forum

What's new?

We are looking for your help to improve the accuracy of The Douglas Archives.

If you spot errors, or omissions, then please do let us know


Contributions

Many articles are stubs which would benefit from re-writing. Can you help?


Copyright

You are not authorized to add this page or any images from this page to Ancestry.com (or its subsidiaries) or other fee-paying sites without our express permission and then, if given, only by including our copyright and a URL link to the web site.

 

If you have met a brick wall with your research, then posting a notice in the Douglas Archives Forum may be the answer. Or, it may help you find the answer!

You may also be able to help others answer their queries.

Visit the Douglas Archives Forum.

 

2 Minute Survey

To provide feedback on the website, please take a couple of minutes to complete our survey.

 

We try to keep everyone up to date with new entries, via our What's New section on the home page.

We also use the Community Network to keep researchers abreast of developments in the Douglas Archives.


Help with costs

Maintaining the three sections of the site has its costs.  Any contribution the defray them is very welcome
Donate

 

Newsletter

If you would like to receive a very occasional newsletter - Sign up!

 
 
 


 

Back to top

 



The content of this website is a collection of materials gathered from a variety of sources, some of it unedited.

The webmaster does not intend to claim authorship, but gives credit to the originators for their work.

As work progresses, some of the content may be re-written and presented in a unique format, to which we would then be able to claim ownership.

Discussion and contributions from those more knowledgeable is welcome.

Contact Us

Last modified: Monday, 25 March 2024