Investigative reporter Russell Findlay says he lives with the possibility he may be attacked again.
by David Wallace Lockhart
BBC Scotland political correspondent
Russell Findlay was working as an investigative journalist for The Sun newspaper in 2015 when William Burns knocked on his door, disguised as a postman, and threw the corrosive liquid in his face.
The MSP told BBC Scotland News that he received a letter a few weeks ago informing him that Burns would be leaving prison this week.
Two years ago he revealed he had been informed by Police Scotland of a potential threat to his life from a “known criminal”.
Findlay was a well-known crime reporter when he was attacked on the doorstep of his Jordanhill home two days before Christmas in 2015.
Burns, now aged 65, threw a corrosive substance, believed to be sulphuric acid, at the journalist and then tried to stab him with a knife.
But Findlay fought back, overpowering his attacker and was able to detain him until police arrived. The incident was witnessed by Findlay’s then 12-year-old daughter.
Burns, a violent career criminal who had previously been jailed for shooting a woman during an armed robbery, was sentenced to 10 years in jail, with another five years of supervision after his release.
The motive for the attack has not been clearly established, but it is suspected to have been a hit, ordered because of Findlay’s investigative journalism about organised crime groups.
Findlay, who later entered politics and became the Scottish Conservative leader in 2024, said that while he was not afraid of Burns or his associates, the risk of a future attack remained on his mind.
He said: “It’s not the first thing I think of when I wake up, but there’s always the kind of possibility that some of these people might regard this as unfinished business. That I’ve caused them problems in the past and maybe continue to do so.”
Findlay said organised crime groups had shown a capability to attack politicians, and cited the example of a Conservative councillor who quit his role in 2021 after firebomb attacks.
He said he had raised that incident when he first became an MSP because he felt the “targeting of politicians you might expect to see in places like Mexico is happening in Scotland”.
But he insisted he would not change how he lived his life and pledged to keep trying to shine a spotlight on organised crime.
“That’s the only option because if you show weakness they’re not going to back down,” he said.
‘Secret’ parole process
The West of Scotland MSP said that family members and friends did have concerns for his safety, but he argued it was “academic” whether or not Burns was behind bars as he had been a target for wider crime networks, not just one individual.
The Scottish Conservative leader also criticised the parole process in Scotland, claiming it was “shrouded in secrecy”, and argued that the justice system in Scotland had “no real regard for the victim”.
Asked if he would forgive Burns for his crimes, Findlay said: “No.”
He explained: “What he did was calculated, it wasn’t some spontaneous crime… It was very targeted and extreme, and the outcome could have been my death or being maimed for life.
“So I have no intention of forgiving that individual. This is an enforcer, a hitman, for a major organised crime group in Scotland which has inflicted untold damage to many innocent people.”