A criminal who fatally shot a former prison officer after he found an illegal mobile phone in his jail cell has been jailed for life with a minimum of 45 years before parole.
Elias Morgan, 35, gunned down father-of-three Lenny Scott, 33, who had found the phone which revealed Morgan was in a sexual relationship with a female prison officer, Preston Crown Court heard.
Morgan, from Edge Hill, Liverpool, first tried to bribe Mr Scott, at the time working at HMP Altcourse, Merseyside, offering him £1,500 to not report the find.
When he refused and reported the phone, Morgan threatened his victim’s family before vowing revenge, telling Mr Scott, “I’ll bide my time” and making a gun gesture.
Almost four years later, after Morgan had served his sentence and Mr Scott, from Prescott, Merseyside, had left the Prison Service, he carried out the threat.
Mr Scott was leaving a gym in Skelmersdale, Lancashire, on the evening of February 8 last year.
Morgan shot his victim with a 9mm handgun once in the head and five times in the body, before fleeing on an electric scooter.
He was arrested after detectives from Lancashire Police began investigating and uncovered the threats Morgan had made to his victim.
Morgan denied any involvement but was convicted of murder by a jury last Friday following a nine-week trial.
Passing sentence, Mr Justice Goose told the defendant: “This murder was a carefully planned, revenge killing of a prison officer. He was loved, respected and made his family proud.”
Morgan handed himself in to police after his name began circulating in connection with the shooting, but denied any involvement.
He was bailed while police gathered evidence.
Detectives traced phone and vehicle data which revealed that in the weeks before the killing, Morgan had spent time stalking his victim to learn his daily schedule before launching the attack.
Morgan’s co-accused, Anthony Cleary, 29, from Liverpool, was found not guilty by the jury of murder and manslaughter.
The trial previously heard how Mr Scott had found the phone in Morgan’s cell at HMP Altcourse, a category B privately-operated jail, in March 2020, and he was charged in April 2023.
Mr Scott had left the Prison Service in 2021 and played no part as a witness in the prosecution.
Prison officer Sarah Williams admitted three offences of misconduct in a public office in June 2023.
Morgan denied a charge of unauthorised possession of the mobile phone and a court hearing was scheduled for February 19, 2024 – 11 days after Mr Scott was murdered.
The gun used in the murder has never been recovered.
Paula Scott, the victim’s mother, read her victim impact statement from the witness box, telling Morgan, who has a long criminal history including armed robbery: “My son was everything you are not. He was strong, brave, honest, respectful.
“He lost his life for standing up for what was right. You are a vile, inhuman, coward. Lenny, thank you for being my son, I will forever be proud of you.”
Ex-partner Lucy Griffiths, the mother of Mr Scott’s twin boys, described him as a devoted father and a, “kind, caring and compassionate man”.
She added: “He adored his children. All he ever wanted to be, was a dad. The moment he was murdered our world came crumbling down, my heart broke.”
Ms Griffiths said when she got the telephone call to say Mr Scott had been killed, his boys were bouncing on their beds because he was due to visit them that day.
They still ask if they can go to see him in heaven, Ms Griffiths said, and she finds notes under their pillows asking him to come back home.
Lucy Carnhill, mother of Mr Scott’s young daughter, said the child, “was his world”.
She added: “The horror, shock and disbelief will never go away. My life is consumed by grief. All I have now is memories and photos.”
