A killer linked to one of Scotland’s biggest drug gangs was badly hurt in a revenge attack just hours after leaving a man for dead, we can reveal.
Ben McCulloch put Stephen Quigley through a sadistic ordeal that ended with him stabbing the victim in the head.
Quigley’s friend Declan Davidson raced to McCulloch’s home to launch a savage assault of his own after seeing the torture broadcast on social media, it’s claimed.
We can only reveal the link between the attacks now that McCulloch has pleaded guilty over the death of Quigley, of Neilston, near Glasgow.
The High Court in Glasgow heard last week that McCulloch, 27, stabbed Quigley, 26, at his home in nearby Barrhead in March last year.
He then drove Quigley to a closed section of Paisley’s Royal Alexandra Hospital, six minutes away from the A&E department.
After dropping Quigley near the hospital, where he was later found dead, McCulloch returned home.
It’s believed Davidson, 26, had seen the attack on McCulloch’s Snapchat account and headed to his home to take revenge. He assaulted McCulloch in the street, leaving him badly injured.
Three members of the public phoned the police to report the attack on McCulloch and officers arrived at the scene to find him with severe facial injuries.
They then spotted Davidson running off from a nearby garden and he was arrested.
Doctors later examined McCulloch, who refused to cooperate with police, and discovered he had multiple fractures and a broken nose.
Davidson, also of Barrhead, was remanded in custody at Paisley Sheriff Court last April over the assault.
He was jailed for 24 months after pleading guilty to carrying out the attack under provocation.
A source said: “Davidson went crazy when he saw the footage of Quigley being attacked.
“He went there to help him and found only McCulloch.
“He’d no idea his pal was lying dying somewhere. He got there too late to save him.”
While investigating Quigley’s death, police appealed to the public for help and revealed the attacks were linked. The force said: “It’s believed Stephen may have been at an address in the area of Bourock Square, Barrhead, on Tuesday, March 23.
“Around 2am on Wednesday, March 24, an assault had taken place within Bourock Square, Barrhead, and a 26-year-old man was seriously injured.”
The High Court in Glasgow earlier this month heard Quigley, who was disorientated, tried to walk to A&E for help after being dropped off but was found dead outside a daytime ward the next morning.
The court was told the pair had been drinking in McCulloch’s flat, and were “in good spirits, uploading video clips to social media”, and that Quigley would have survived if he had received immediate
medical treatment.
McCulloch, who was initially charged with murder but admitted the lesser charge of culpable homicide, was warned he faces “a lengthy period in prison” when sentenced.
His dad, Brian McCulloch, was part of a multi-million-pound drug gang jailed after a police surveillance sting similar to TV show The Wire.
The High Court in Glasgow heard in 2009 that officers interpreted coded conversations after bugging a house and a car.
Brian McCulloch was caged for 10 years while Steven Caddis, Stephen George Jamieson and Gary Caddis were jailed for six, eight and five years respectively for supplying illegal drugs.
During the surveillance, police raided properties in Glasgow, Paisley and Clydebank, recovering drugs with a street value of £9million, along with firearms and almost £500,000 in cash.
All four admitted supplying cocaine, while McCulloch, director of SBS Developments in Paisley, also admitted dealing amphetamine and ecstasy.
Jamieson, who boasted of buying a £115,000 Lamborghini and spending £1800 on a dog, also admitted money laundering charges after using crime cash to buy three watches worth £10,315.
The gang’s multi-million-pound cocaine operation brought misery to the streets of Paisley and other towns and villages across the west of Scotland.
They were nabbed after officers from the then-Strathclyde Police force bugged Jamieson’s home and his expensive BMW X5 car.
Jamieson was the original target but evidence was compiled against McCulloch, then of Paisley, after he bought the bugged BMW.
Judge Lord Pentland told McCulloch, who had run a building company before entering the drugs trade: “You were one of the principals in an organisation running a scheme for large amounts of cocaine. To the police officers involved, I offer the appreciation of the court for the skill and diligence with which the operation was conducted.
“A great deal of work has also been performed by the Procurator Fiscal’s Office and Crown Office.”
A ring of steel was thrown around the High Court in Glasgow ahead of their sentencing hearing, amid fears of an escape bid from the gang.
Officers from the tactical firearms unit, armed with sub-machine guns, stalked the court building while the police helicopter circled above.
The police operation, codenamed Operation Lockdown, ran from August 2007 to February 2009, involved up to 100 officers on any given day and cost an estimated £2.7million.
In addition to the convictions, the operation resulted in the seizure of significant sums of cash, drugs
and property.
Cocaine factories were raided in Crown Avenue, Clydebank, and Banner Drive, Knightswood, Glasgow, while a bust on a flat in Stock Street, Paisley, uncovered five kilos of cocaine.
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