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Michael Ross, a former soldier currently serving a life sentence, is set to have his 1994 murder conviction re-examined. Ross was found guilty of killing Shamsuddin Mahmood, a waiter who was fatally shot at close range while working in an Indian restaurant located in Kirkwall, Orkney. At the time of the murder, Ross was only 15 years old. Despite his conviction in 2008, Ross has consistently maintained his innocence.
Mahmood’s death occurred in front of diners, including children, when a masked assailant entered the Mumutaz restaurant and shot him in the head. Mahmood, a Bangladeshi national and university graduate, had been a well-known figure in the community, and his murder shocked residents of the island and beyond. Ross was the prime suspect early in the investigation, but the case remained unsolved for several years due to a lack of sufficient evidence.
Ross later joined the Army and became a sniper with the Black Watch regiment, earning commendations for his service in Iraq. The investigation into Mahmood’s murder was reignited 12 years later when a new witness came forward, leading to Ross’s subsequent trial at the High Court in Glasgow in June 2008. He was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment, with a minimum term of 25 years. His conviction was also marked by a dramatic escape attempt during which Ross injured a security guard and tried to flee the courtroom, only to be apprehended in a corridor.
Following the escape attempt, authorities discovered a hire car containing an arsenal of weapons, including a loaded machine gun, a grenade, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, and a hunting knife, parked in a supermarket car park in Springburn. Although Ross’s initial appeal to have his conviction reviewed by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) in 2014 was rejected, the SCCRC has since accepted a new application for review. While the commission is legally limited in the details it can disclose about ongoing reviews, it confirmed to BBC Scotland News that Ross’s case will be reconsidered and may be referred back to the courts for further examination
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