Police officer linked to armed robbery gang led by garage hitman

May 11 2008 Exclusive by Russell Findlay

A FORMER police officer has been linked to a gang of armed robber sled by underworld assassin Raymond Anderson.

We can reveal that hitman Anderson and his brother Robert used police uniforms and fake search warrants to enter houses and tie up victims.

And detectives probing at least 12 raids across Scotland suspected PC John Watters, 51, of being a member of the outfit.

Anderson, 46, was last week jailed for 35 years - the longest ever sentence in Scotland - for a triple shooting at a garage in Lambhill, Glasgow that left Michael Lyons, 21, dead.

The bloodbath - using stolen British Army guns - was part of a drugs turf war between the Lyons and Daniel clans.

Watters, who eventually quit the force, is now a taxi driver while Robert, 51, is serving a 32-month jail term for robbing a family at their Newton Mearns home, near Glasgow, last December.

One veteran officer said: "The decision to drop the charges against Watters stank.

"The top brass were acutely aware of the damage it could do to the force's reputation if the full details emerged."

Ex-footballer Watters - then a plain-clothes PC based in Dumbarton - was arrested and charged in February 1996 over a robbery in which an 81-year-old man and his wife were tied up.

Former CBI Scotland chairman Dr Kenneth Atchley and wife Marjorie were robbed at their home in Kippen, Stirlingshire, in February 1993. They were found two days later.

On the night of the raid, youths saw a man in a parked car and reported the registration.

Central Scotland Police discovered it was registered to Watters' wife Karin, 45.

The officer who later investigated Watters, of Greenock, Renfrewshire, said: "He admitted being there but claimed he was having an affair and didn't want his wife to know. His alibi was accepted at face value."

Later a Helensburgh man received a visit from Watters about his shotgun certificate application.

The homeowner opened a safe using a key hidden in a clock. It was later emptied by burglars using the key.

The detective said: "The householder said only he, his wife and PC Watters knew where it was."

One crime linked to the gang was the 1995 theft of caps and medals from former Rangers star Mark Hateley's Helensburgh mansion as he slept. Watters said he could recover the haul but this was ruled out as the thieves demanded ransom money.

Police also discovered the best man at Watters' 1989 wedding was gangster Walter Kirkwood.

Kirkwood, 53, was jailed for three-and-a-half years in Liverpool in 2001 over guns headed for Scotland.

Watters was arrested and did appear at court in Stirling in March 1996 charged with assaulting and robbing Dr Atchley and his wife after a witness picked him out of an ID parade. But the court case was later dropped despite police tracing a record of calls between him and Robert Anderson.

Watters was suspended after being charged but eventually quit the police three years later - weeks before he was to face five internal charges of discreditable conduct.

Detectives investigating the raids had also probed claims that the gang had aborted one robbery after discovering the house was alarmed while illegally monitoring a police radio.

One detective said: "This gang did at least a dozen robberies. Robert was the leader and a pal of Watters.

"They used police uniforms to get into houses and usually put hoods over victims' heads.

"The biggest amount stolen was in 1994 when s104,000 of jewellery and cash was taken from a house in Midlothian.

"Often they had fake warrants and police radios.

"It wasn't until 1996 that more than one informant accused Watters.

"Surprisingly, he was not placed under surveillance.

"He was arrested within weeks but after about a year it became apparent it was going nowhere.

"There was concern he was linked to robberies but there didn't seem a great will to bring him to justice."

Watters said: "I don't want to comment on this at all - not even remotely."

'They used police uniforms to get into houses then put hoods over victims' heads'

Police insider

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