Gang members jailed for plotting to kill drugs boss lose appeal

Two crime gang members who were jailed for a murder plot have lost an appeal to reduce their prison sentences.

Last year, crime boss David Nisbet, 36, was jailed for 13 years and Declan McCuish for 11 years for conspiring to kill gangster Ryan Carvill in 2020.

The assassination attempt failed when a potential hitman pulled out at the last minute and the group were caught after incriminating messages on the encrypted EncroChat phone network linked them to the crime.

Three appeal judges at the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh ruled the sentences as correct and said they did not breach legal guidelines.

At the appeal court hearing last month, Nisbet, who did not have a lawyer, told Lord Beckett, Lord Matthews and Lord Ericht that sentences given to people convicted of similar offences were not as long as the term he was sentenced to.

He asked the appeal court to reduce his sentence "in the interests of justice".

McCuish's lawyer told judges the sentence was too harsh as he did not play as large a role in the conspiracy as other people who participated in it.

He said the judge who dealt with McCuish's case should have imposed a lesser sentence.

In a written judgement, Lord Beckett wrote: "We are not persuaded that it was an excessive sentence, there was no miscarriage of justice."

Both appeals were refused.

Nisbet and McCuish denied conspiring to murder Carvill, but were found guilty of the offence which was carried out at addresses in Glasgow, East Dunbartonshire and Liverpool.

Nisbet was also convicted of directing others to commit serious offences and possessing a handgun to commit acts of violence, while McCuish was also found guilty of being involved in serious organised crime.

During the murder plot, the pair offered money and arranged for James Richards to travel to Glasgow from Liverpool to carry out the assassination.

The hitman later got "cold feet" and did not go through with the plan.

Nisbet and McCuish also obtained stolen cars with false number plates to be used in the crime and made plans to conceal the gun and set fire to the car used in the murder.

Prosecutor Lindsey Dalziel said Nisbet "called the shots" and the gang "sought to turn the streets of Glasgow into a warzone" in a bid to catch the target.

The hitman was given seven and a half years for his role in the conspiracy, while another gang member of the group - Anthony Connell - was sentenced to six years nine months.

Carvill, who moved between Glasgow and Dubai, was also jailed for his role in a narcotics supply operation.