Man cleared of revenge murder plot against brother's killer

A man has been cleared of a violent revenge murder plot against his brother's killer.

Kashif Sadiq was among nine men accused of conspiring to murder Hasim Uddin following the death of his brother, Omar, in September 2020.

However, the 35-year-old, alongside Robert Daniel, 36, were found not guilty following a trial at the High Court in Glasgow.

Four other men pled guilty to lesser charges over a series of firebomb attacks, assaults and spying mission related to the incident. They will be sentenced at a later date.

The charges covered a number of alleged reprisals after Omar was stabbed at Uddin's home on 15 September 2020.

Omar later died from his injuries. Uddin was arrested and convicted of killing him in May 2021. He was jailed for six years.

The trial, before judge Lord Mulholland, heard allegations about petrol bomb attacks at different properties in Glasgow.

The court was also told tracking devices were placed on cars to try and monitor certain individuals' movements and several assaults took place involving knives or machetes.

David McShane, 40, pled guilty to carrying out a petrol bomb attack at a house in Giffnock, East Renfrewshire in September 2020.

He also admitted being involved in the aggravated assault of a man in Glasgow's west end weeks later.

Tony Robertson, 28, and Michael Kennaway, 34, had guilty pleas accepted for another firebombing at a property in Glasgow.

William McNally junior, 43, admitted acting in a threatening manner by carrying out "reconnaissance" on two named people in Cambuslang, Lanarkshire in November 2020.

During the trial, Kashif claimed he had never seen the four men before.

He told the court he had been "frustrated" with police "at nothing getting done" following his brother's death.

He admitted he could not dispute incidents occurred but insisted he had nothing to with "organising or arranging" them.

Under cross-examination, prosecutor Alex Prentice KC suggested to Kashif that he wanted "revenge" for his brother's death.

The court had previously heard of a Facebook post that was sent to a named man featuring an image of Uddin and the promise of a £25,000 reward for information on his whereabouts.

Prentice also put it to Kashif that he was aware of that reward. Kashif denied both of those claims.

After hearing the verdict, Lord Mulholland told Kashif he was discharged from the dock.

Leaving the court, Kashif remarked to jurors: "God bless you all".