A blundering gangster launched a firework attack on a gangland killer’s car – only to miss and hit a neighbour’s house.
Lee Liddle, of Wishaw, poured petrol inside Derek Felvus's Range Rover while an accomplice lit and fired a rocket, but missed the vehicle.
The missile hit the adjacent house instead.
Two days later, Felvus was involved in the shotgun murder of Blantyre dad Graham Williamson.
Williamson, 26, was shot dead at close range in broad daylight in his garden following a feud. Felvus and his co-accused were described by the trial judge as professional drug dealers.
The 25-year-old was jailed for at least 23 years after he and two other men were found guilty .
Having admitted attempted fireraising outside Felvus’s home in Hamilton on August 15, 2020, Liddle was jailed for 22 months.
It later emerged that police had given Felvus an Osman “threat to life” warning four months before the killing.
Hamilton Sheriff Court heard that Felvus wasn’t at home when his car was targeted in the fire attack.
His mum and sister were aware of noises outside, but didn’t realise until the next morning what had happened.
A firework had hit the wall of their home and was found on the ground. A window of the Range Rover had been smashed and petrol poured inside.
Twenty-seven-year-old Liddle cut himself breaking the glass and detectives found his blood at the scene.
An allegation that he broke into Felvus’s home and stole cash, watches, perfume, a purse and a jacket was dropped.
Liddle’s record includes a High Court conviction at the age of 15 for robbery.
He was jailed in 2016 for starting a blaze that destroyed a caravan and three vehicles.
Defence lawyer Vincent McGovern said: “His record is disturbing but what happened was not enough to cause the householders alarm. There has been no lasting impact on them.”
But Sheriff Alasdair MacFadyen told dad-of-one Liddle: “This was a disgraceful act against someone’s property.
"You have a significant criminal record and, if you keep offending, the custodial sentences will get longer and longer.”
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