Well the trial played up to everything that is wrong with our adversarial system, and we were both angered and bemused by how the crown got away with what we can only describe as a theatrical farce. Most of their evidence should never have been allowed in a court of law, as it was full of supposition and assumptions, very little evidence, none which would we could see tied Willie Gage to the locus of the crime. The only concrete evidence that the crown put forward came from the widow of the deceased, our hearts went out to her loss, but our heads couldn’t believe that what she said was allowed to be used in a court of law in the 21st century. She stated, 22 months after the brutal death of her husband, she saw a figure run from right to left, and as the person ran under the street light, he glanced back, she saw his eyes, “eyes of evil, she would never forget them”. When the Advocate Depute, unsurprisingly, asked if she could see these eyes in the court, she without any hesitation, picked out William Gage, and if she was in any doubt, he was sitting in a glass cage with two-uniformed policeman at either side. We had to ask ourselves, did the learned Advocate Depute really believe that this poor distraught woman, could remember 22 months later, a shadowy figure who glanced back for a second, wearing a puffed jacket with a hood and scarf around his face? As Tracey McAlroy went on to describe his clothing, curiously she stated he was about 5’10”. We say curiously, because virtually all the other eyewitnesses that saw the figure leaving the locus stated the same height 5’ 10”ish. William Gage is 6’2”! Another two witnesses also went on to describe a puffed jacket fleeing the locus. Now let us explain, you see the reason why Willie Gage has been pulled in for this crime, or one of the reasons, is because inside the burning car in Easterhouse are items of clothing, a black cagoule jacket, a snood, a pair of gloves. That all happen to have Willie Gage’s DNA, as well as firearm discharge residue FDR found on the jacket and snood. Wullie has never denied that he had the car, as buying and selling used cars was just one of his occupations after his release on license, that and tiling, his friends called him ‘Tiler’. It should be noted that there was also two other unknown DNA on the jacket and the snood. And according to Dr Lloyd a Home Office ballistic expert, there wasn’t sufficient FDR on these items to have warranted 6 shots. Another thing that struck us were witnesses saying he wore gloves, but there was no FDR on the gloves found in the car. Also the only witness to mention a SAAB was a Charles Beaumont , who stated, after saying it was a Volvo 440, when shown a picture weeks later of the SAAB, that it was similar. Not what we would call hard evidence. However there was one prosecution witness, Steven Maddens, who the crown chose to damn his recollection when it suited them. But only parts of his testament suited their case. This began an all to frequent pattern, with a number of prosecution witnesses challenging the Advocate depute on the validity of the wording of what he was reading out of the their statements to the police, most often it was their second or third statement. Steven Maddens looked uncomfortable in the dock, and had to be reprimanded for his prevaricating to some of the Advocate Depute’s questions. But he saw the car, he also saw a guy about 5’10” with a bubble jacket, who he saw get into a white car, the car caught up due to roadwork’s. He stated in court that he saw the car in the rear view mirror, and he thought it was as either a Maestro or a Metro, he wasn’t sure. However, he was pretty sure about the registration. As he explained he worked as a deliveryman for a Chinese restaurant, and they used to play a game, which involved car registration numbers, and he was almost 100% sure it was a J-reg. The SAAB found in Easterhouse was an F-reg. He also saw the face of the gunman as he came up behind him in his mirror. He removed, what he described as a ski mask with cut out holes, he saw a man with short hair, and a baw face. William Gage is long, gaunt with hair half way down his back. When he was asked if he could see the man in court today, he refused to play along, and stated that no one in court resembled the man he saw sitting parked right behind him that night. In his summon up the Advocate Depute dismissed Mr Maddens evidence, but recalled the widows’ evil eyes court identification. But, we don’t blame her, she was used. The woman was looking for closure, and probably believed that more evidence was going to show that this was her husband’s killer. Well it didn’t, nothing, zilch. There was no other evidence to put Willie Gage anywhere close to this brutal slaying. So why, did we have to keep asking ourselves is Willie Gage on trial? At times he must have thought he wandered in to the wrong court, because I know we did. Willie’s legal team wanted to show that the man killed, had many enemies, and was a major player in the world of drugs. They called Detective Chief Superintendent Robert Lauder of the Scottish Drugs Enforcement Agency (D.E.A). That made us sit up. DCS Lauder had been asked by John MacAuley to run a check, to see if there was any connection, between William Gage and Justin McAlroy. DCS Lauder had been with the Scottish Drugs Enforcement Agency since 1999, with 34 years service, and would have had a wide knowledge of drug barons and their associates, yet could find no connection between the accused and the victim. William Gage didn’t register in the D.E.A. radar. But this led the Crown to the hit man theory, that usually hit men wouldn’t normally know their victims. But the second last witness for the defence, recalled hearing from below her bedroom window. A conversation that turned into an argument, before she heard a bang, that turned out to be the first shot. So according to the Crown the hit man had a quick chat with the victim before he shot him. So with nothing but the crown’s theory, the defence called their third? witness Anne Ross, William Gage’s alibi. Anne Ross a 47 year-old, sales housing consultant, had known Willie for about a year. She knew about Willie’s girlfriend, who had no knowledge of her, she didn’t want a ‘heavy’ relationship. She had children to consider. So Willie never met the kids, it was a fun relationship. She also began keeping a diary after splitting with her husband a few years earlier. On the night of the killing the entry for the 7th March, was that, “T (Tiler) can’t make anniversary. Picked up at house, drive, blossom tree, houses, Hogshead then home”. When asked in court, she recalled getting picked up about 7.30/8ish, went a run along Great Western Road, up to Bowling, went to see a Blossom Tree, don’t ask, and up to a new housing state getting built (something to do with her work), up to Temple, left Hogshead at elevenish. The Advocate Depute however began about asking about phones, and rattled off number after number. Then times of calls. He then switched, and asked Anne Ross to read out the entry for the 15th of February 2002. It read, Oceans Eleven, the Quay, home chatted to 1.30. The Advocate Depute then switched back to the phone records, and asked why was it that a mobile, that Wullie had been using, phoned her mobile at 20.53, if she was at the pictures at that time? We half expected him to go AH HA so there. She then said that she must have been mistaken about the time of the film, and that it must have been later. The Advocate Depute then accused Anne Ross, that she wasn’t mistaken about the time, but lying about the entries to the dairy, and lying to give William Gage an Alibi. She kept asking for what reason would she want to lie. This cinema slip up was brought up by the Advocate Depute in his summing up; it was also brought up by the court press association copy. The defence had no chance to counter this line of questioning, they didn’t have to prove he was innocent; it is the crown that has to prove he’s guilty. Which they clearly hadn’t. more