Car blaze investigated in attempted murder probe

6 June 2019, 17:23 | Updated: 6 June 2019, 17:24

A burnt-out car found in Glasgow could help police investigating the attempted murder of a prison employee who was shot at.

The shot was fired at around 5.30am on Wednesday when the 38-year-old man was leaving a property in Rannoch Drive in Bearsden, East Dunbartonshire.

Officers previously said they believe the man, an employee at HMP Addiewell, was the intended target.

The suspect is believed to have got into a silver or grey Skoda, possibly a Fabia, which was being driven by another person, and headed south along the road.

At about 9pm on Wednesday, emergency services were called to a silver Skoda Fabia on fire in Townsend Street, Glasgow.

Fire crews extinguished the blaze and nobody was injured.

Inquiries are now under way to find out if it is the same car from the incident in Bearsden that morning.

Detective Inspector Stuart Dougan said: "We were made aware last night of a Skoda Fabia that was on fire in Glasgow and we are now carrying out inquiries to establish if this car was involved in the shooting yesterday morning.

"The incident, which we are treating as attempted murder, took place on Rannoch Drive and this car was found in Townsend Street that evening.

"We are currently checking CCTV between both areas and carrying out inquiries to try to establish if there is a link, however, we would appeal for any information regarding either incident to get in touch with us."

A spokeswoman for HMP Addiewell said: "We can confirm that there was an incident involving one of our employees, which is now under police investigation and so we are unable to comment further at present.

"We will support our employee and his family in any way we can."

Anyone with any information is asked to contact 101, quoting incident number 0352 of Wednesday June 5, or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.