A crime gang who carried out a cold blooded execution on a busy street cost taxpayers more than £90,000 in legal aid.
Darren Eadie, 30, dad Morton Eadie, 56, Ross Fisher, 30, and John Kennedy, 41, were all handed life sentences after being convicted of the shooting of Kenny Reilly in Glasgow.
Reilly was targeted as he sat in a car at traffic lights with a friend. He was shot once in the head and died two days later in April 2018.
The men were handed sentences totalling 94 years after being convicted of murder following a lengthy trial at the High Court in Edinburgh.
It has now emerged the gang were given £93,044.64 to fund their defence teams led by top lawyers including Gordon Jackson QC and Thomas Ross QC.
Kennedy, who carried out the fatal shooting on Reilly, claimed £45,434.27.
The younger Eadie, who was responsible for getting the gang together for the fatal attack, received £27,562.44 while his dad got £5,102.67
Fisher, who sourced a stolen car for the shooting, claimed £14,945.24.
But the final figures are expected to increase because firms have four months after the conclusion of proceedings to claim funds from the Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB).
Jurors watched CCTV of the brutal murder which showed Kennedy exit the rear of a Ford S-Max and fire six shots from an automatic pistol towards a BMW which Reilly was in.
All of the gang were also convicted of attempting to defeat the ends of justice by torching the Ford car in a bid to destroy evidence.
They fled to locations such as Mexico, Jamaica and Spain in the aftermath of the shooting as they tried to avoid justice.
The trial heard the killing was linked to a feud between rival factions in the Possilpark and Maryhill areas of Glasgow.
Detectives believe Reilly's killing was linked to an earlier assault he had carried while the murder trial heard claims he owed £100,000 to a high-profile criminal.
Jailing the men, judge Lord Beckett said: "People who are prepared to engage in such meticulously planned and ruthlessly perpetrated assassination on the streets of our cities can expect substantial punishment."
Kennedy was ordered to serve a minimum of 26 years for the assassination while Eadie jnr was told to serve at least 24 years.
Eadie snr and Fisher were both handed minimum terms of 22 years.
A spokeswoman for SLAB said: "Legal aid is paid directly to lawyers to represent people accused of serious crimes to help ensure a jury can reach an appropriate verdict in a timely manner.
"In serious and complex cases involving multiple accused the costs are inevitably high due to a number of factors, which include the nature of the Crown evidence, the number of witnesses required to give evidence at trial and the use of expert witnesses."
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