Prison officer shot dead in 'revenge plot', jury told

A former prison officer was shot dead in an "act of retaliation" four years after seizing a mobile phone from a prisoner's cell, a jury heard. Lenny Scott, 33, was ambushed in the car-park of a gym in Skelmersdale, Lancashire, and shot six times with a handgun on 8 February 2024. Images on the phone exposed a "sexual relationship" between inmate Elias Morgan and another prison officer, Sarah Williams, at HMP Altcourse in Liverpool resulting in them both being prosecuted, Preston Crown Court heard. Mr Morgan, 35, and his co-accused Anthony Cleary, 29, both from the Edge Hill area of Liverpool, have denied Mr Scott's murder, while Mr Cleary also denies an alternative count of manslaughter. At the opening of their trial earlier, the jury heard Mr Scott left the gym on Peel Road at 19:34 GMT on the evening of his death and walked towards his car. The gunman, wearing a high-visibility jacket, was recorded on CCTV approaching Mr Scott before opening fire - striking him in the head and body. After the shooting, the killer fled on an electric bike which had earlier been left on the Daybrook housing estate, close to the gym, in the back of a white van. The prosecution claims the van had been transported there on a low-loader truck driven by Mr Cleary, who left it there for Mr Morgan to collect. Mr Morgan then drove himself to the estate in a Mercedes GLC car insured in his mother's name, parked up and collected the bike, the jury heard. Alex Leach KC, prosecuting, suggested the shooting was motivated by a search Mr Scott had carried out of Mr Morgan's cell on 26 March 2020, when he found the "incriminating" iPhone containing evidence of the affair with Ms Williams. The jury heard Mr Scott refused Mr Morgan's offer of £1,500 not to submit the phone to his superiors. Mr Leach said the inmate then "went to very considerable lengths to threaten harm to Lenny Scott and his family" if he handed the phone over. "For his part, Lenny Scott was not to be deterred," Mr Leach said. "He submitted the telephone and prosecutions followed. Elias Morgan told Lenny Scott that he would get him, he said he would bide his time, but that he would get him." Mr Scott, the jury heard, told his family and colleagues that Mr Morgan had accurately recited his address, named his three children, and threatened that his "house would be blown up with his children inside". Mr Scott also called Merseyside Police four days after seizing the phone to report the threats. A recording of the call was played in court, which included Mr Scott telling the police call handler he was "in fear for my family's life". Mr Leach said Mr Morgan was moved to a different wing of the prison 10 days after the phone was seized, and there was no evidence the two men had any further contact. Mr Morgan was released from HMP Altcourse in October 2020, and the following year Mr Scott was sacked from the prison service for punching a prisoner in the face. Mr Leach said in June 2023, Sarah Williams pleaded guilty to three counts of misconduct in a public office based partly on her affair with Mr Morgan. Mr Morgan, however, pleaded not guilty to unauthorised possession of the mobile phone and was bailed to stand trial on 19 February 2024. The jury heard that on 3 January 2024, Mr Morgan and other "unidentified men" carried out a "reconnaissance trip" at three locations linked to Mr Scott in a Ford Fiesta registered and insured in the defendant's name. They included his home address in Prescot, The Mecca Gym in Speke which Mr Scott had visited previously, and the gym at Peel House where the shooting would take place. The trial continues. Listen to the best ofBBC Radio Merseyside on Soundsand follow BBC Merseyside onFacebook,X, andInstagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.