Two thugs who shot a man in a murder bid posed with the gun on social media.
John McCann, 35, and Anton Brannigan, 30, struck Robert 'Boab' Spence on the head as he sat in a van outside a shop in Glasgow's Tollcross on January 12, 2021. The pellets from the one shot that was fired also hit Gary Milne who was sat beside Mr Spence.
McCann and Brannigan had posted themselves on TikTok with the firearm and a machete hours before the shooting. The callous pair later fled to England and recorded themselves singing gangster rap songs in the getaway car.
Bannigan and McCann were seen making gun symbols with the latter singing "bang bang." The two men told a jury that they had never known or met their victims.
However, the pair were convicted at the High Court in Glasgow of the attempted murder of Mr Spence and Mr Milne. Judge Michael O'Grady told them: "Over the last eight days, this court has had a glimpse into your lives.
"The point of your ambition is to be regarded by others and yourselves as gangsters. Whatever else you are, you are immature childish fantasists - you are dangerous fantasists.
"This was a planned assassination to be carried out in this city and it was ruthlessly celebrated in an odious fashion. The court needs to punish the cynical and incomprehensible way you did this."
The court heard that the attackers arrived at the scene in a white Seat Ibiza car minutes before the shooting. They waited until the van containing the victims pulled up outside the One Stop Shop around 7.34am.
The victims collected coffee and rolls from the shop before returning to the van. Prosecutor Graeme Jessop told the jury in his closing speech: "Outside the busy shop Brannigan drove, as McCann sat in the passenger seat, alongside the van and discharged the sawn-off shot gun. The shot struck Mr Spence and Mr Milne on the head with pellets."
CCTV shown to the jury clocked the van racing off at speed. The pair later fled to Brannigan's cousin's home in Hull before returning to Glasgow the following day.
Jurors were earlier taken to a text message sent by McCann to Brannigan from two weeks before the shooting. In it, McCann asked Brannigan for a knife to take to a funeral.
He stated: "That Boab Spence anaw will be there, cannae wait, I will wait until after it and give as many as I can."
McCann in his evidence, claimed that he had "no issue" with anyone called Boab or Bob Spence and had "not heard" of victim Robert Spence. Mr Jessop displayed pictures of McCann and Brannigan posing with a shot gun and machete at 5.10am on the morning of the shooting McCann claimed it was a "dummy toy gun."
McCann - who was on a tag and lived five minutes from the scene - was shown to have returned home at 7.39am. He stated that he was out at the time to get money and beers from his stepdad.
Brannigan meantime told the jury that he was at the scene alone at the time of the shooting in the Seat Ibiza car. Mr Jessop asked: "Prior to driving away from the layby, did you hear anything?"
He replied: "Yes, I heard a loud bang...I thought it was a car crash."
Brannigan claimed he fled the scene as he did not have a driving licence or insurance and believed the police would appear. He was also referred to the pictures of them holding the weapons which he claimed were posted on TikTok.
Mr Jessop stated that videos were also posted of the journey to Hull in which Brannigan and McCann were seen to make a "gun symbol" and sing "gangster rap."
He said: "Mr McCann was singing 'bang bang', were you bragging about what you had just done?"
Brannigan replied: "No, just singing a song."
Text messages were also recovered from the day of the shooting in which McCann stated to a friend that he and Brannigan needed a place to "lay low for a while." He also asked for the car to be "burned" out. The same vehicle was later found with different number plates at a property in Yorkshire three days after the shooting.
Mr Milne and Mr Spence were taken to Glasgow Royal Infirmary meantime where the pellets were removed from their heads. Fortunately, there was no serious injuries to both men.
It was revealed that Brannigan and McCann have previous more than 20 previous convictions each. Brannigan was sentenced to 67 months behind bars for a High Court assault and robbery in 2010.
Sentence was deferred until next month and both men had their remand in custody continued meantime. One of them was heard to shout to the jury: "You should be ashamed of yourselves" as they left the dock.
Ends Prosecutor Graeme Jessop told jurors in his closing speech that McCann and Brannigan had taken drink and drugs on the morning of the shooting. He said: "They planed the ambush to shoot Boab Spence.
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