At the High Court in Glasgow, Lord Mulholland imposed a life sentence on Grant Hunter for the murder of Marc Webley. Hunter must serve a minimum of 26 years in prison before becoming eligible for parole. Emma McVie was jailed for 4 years and 6 months and Gary Robertson received a prison term of 6 years and 6 months for crimes that include attempting to pervert the course of justice.
On sentencing, Lord Mulholland made the following comments in court:
“Grant Hunter, this was a planned murder for financial gain committed in furtherance of serious and organised crime. It was committed on a public street when members of the public were about. You fired 5 shots from the gun and 3 of them missed your target placing the public at great risk.
Moreover, you fired 4 shots at Marc Webley and one of them hit him in the back and the catastrophic injuries caused took his life. The fact that you fired 4 shots at him shows beyond any doubt that you wanted him dead. That you also shot and wounded another man who could have come to the aid of Mark Webley is further evidence of your intent.
It is beyond sinister that you wanted your victim to see your face which is another aggravating factor to be added to the others applicable.
However, in doing so you revealed your face, and this was your undoing as police officers who knew you, and from your criminal record had good and regular cause to know you, recognised you and this led to your swift arrest.
The public are grateful to the police and forensic scientists for their excellent work in bringing you to justice.
You travelled to and back from the locus in a stolen car, you disposed of the handgun with the assistance of your co accused Robertson and burned the clothing worn by you. The handgun used to murder Marc Webley has not been recovered which is another aggravating feature.
You were to be paid a lot of money for the assassination. That you are about to get a life sentence for what you did would tell any reasonable person that it was not worth it. You have shown no remorse for what you did.
Gangsterism and the criminal activity which comes with it are not acceptable in a civilised society. This is a civilised society based on laws to govern and regulate the society we live in. The public will not put up with this gangsterism and the courts will certainly not put up with it. Anyone getting caught carrying out this type of criminality can expect hefty sentences of imprisonment.
As I said to you on conviction, this is not Chicago in the 1930s. Scotland is a civilised place with no tolerance for gangsterism.
You have left a mother without her son and two boys without their father. You have visited a life sentence of grief and loss on them. You may not have any remorse for what you did, but your cowardly actions will haunt you for the rest of your life.
For charge 6, murder, the punishment is fixed by law. You are sentenced to life imprisonment.
For charge 7, the attempted murder of Stewart Pearson, you are sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment.
The sentence for charge 7 is to be served concurrently with, i.e. at the same time as charge 6, the murder charge.
The sentence will run from 30 March 2024.
I now require to fix the punishment part. The punishment part is the period of time you will serve in prison before being eligible to apply for parole. As I said on conviction, there is no guarantee you will ever be granted parole. Whether you are granted parole is a decision for the parole board alone to take and is determined on the risk that you pose to the public. You may never be released.
In fixing the punishment part, I must reflect the need to punish you for the crime of murder and to deter you and others from committing murder. The law requires me to ignore any risk that you may pose to the public in the future. I must take account of the seriousness of the crime of murder of which you have been convicted and also the other crime of attempted murder that you have been convicted of, which is, of course, very serious.
Having regard to the whole circumstances, including that the murder was planned, involved a firearm and was committed in furtherance of serious organised crime, I fix the punishment part for the murder charge, charge 6, at 25 years. I increase the punishment part to take account of the other charge of attempted murder. The increase is limited to that part of the sentence attributable to retribution, deterrence and the loss of the possibility of early release. I increase the punishment part of 25 years by a further 4 years. The headline punishment part is therefore 29 years.
However, I require to reflect the fact that you pled guilty and the utilitarian benefits that brings to the criminal justice system. I will therefore reduce the punishment part by 3 years to take account of this, which reduces the punishment part to 26 years’ imprisonment.
I apportion one years’ imprisonment to the serious organised crime aggravations.
Turning to you Emma McVie and Gary Robertson, you were both involved trying to stymie law enforcement who were investigating the murder and attempted murder.
You Emma McVie cleaned the stolen car used to transport Hunter to and from the locus and instructed the washing of the clothes worn by him. These actions could have prevented law enforcement from recovering DNA, fingerprints and firearms residue. You knew what you were doing and why you were doing it as you travelled to and from the locus and were at the locus when Hunter shot and murdered Marc Webley and shot and attempted to murder Stewart Pearson.
You Gary Robertson were art and part involved in the disposal of the gun and provided clothing, money and drugs to Hunter after the murder. The gun has not yet been recovered by law enforcement and it is therefore available for nefarious use. You are partly responsible for that.
These are very serious matters, and a lengthy prison sentence is inevitable in both your cases.
In your case Emma McVie, I take into account all the background information I have on you including your age, your limited criminal record, everything said on your behalf, what you did and why you did it and the timing of your plea of guilty and the benefits it brings to the criminal justice system as a whole. I hereby sentence you to 4 years and 6 months’ imprisonment which is reduced from a headline sentence of 5 years’ imprisonment to take account of the timing of the plea of guilty.
I order that the sentence should run from 8 January 2024.
In your case Gary Robertson, I take into account your criminal record, everything said on your behalf, all the background information I have on you including your age, and what you did and why you did it. You have shown no remorse.
The fact that the gun used in the murder and attempted murder was disposed of with your assistance and has not yet been recovered by law enforcement is a grave matter which makes what you did far more serious than your co accused Emma McVie.
I hereby sentence you to 6 years and 6 months’ imprisonment, reduced from a headline sentence of 7 years’ imprisonment to take account of the timing of the plea of guilty. I apportion 6 months’ imprisonment to the 4 bail aggravations extant at the time.
I order that the sentence should run from 24 August 2024.”
17 December 2025
