Three criminals have been convicted of killing a man who jumped from a window in a bid to escape their attempts to extort money from him.
Stephen Stewart, 52, Jennifer Souter, 40, and Victoria McGowan, 43, were found guilty on Friday of the culpable homicide of 36-year-old Ryan Munro last year.
The trio created an “atmosphere of absolute terror, menace and threats” at the Morgan Street flat in Dundee where they abducted Mr Munro in an attempt to obtain cash, the High Court in Edinburgh heard.
They placed him in such an “extreme state of fear and alarm” that he jumped to his death from a window at the property on 10 January 2024.
The trio stood trial alongside the brother-in-law of former first minister Humza Yousaf, Ramsay El-Nakla.
Mr El-Nakla, 37, was originally charged alongside the others of extorting money from Mr Munro at the flat and with drugs offences but was acquitted last week after the prosecution accepted his not guilty pleas to the allegations facing him.
He was not charged with the alleged culpable homicide of Mr Munro.
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On Friday afternoon, jurors returned guilty verdicts on the remaining trio on all charges.
Stewart, Souter and McGowan were found to have threatened and intimidated Mr Munro, causing him to escape the flat from a “window at height” which led to him falling and striking the ground.
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‘Atmosphere of absolute terror’
The trio had earlier abducted Mr Munro on 9 and 10 January 2024 at the flat by intimidating and threatening him and detaining him against his will.
The jury also found the trio did “with the intention of menacing Mr Munro” put him in a “state of fear and alarm and apprehension of physical harm to his well-being and safety”, intimidated him and did “extort a sum of money” from him by threats.
In his closing speech, prosecutor Alex Prentice KC told jurors: “There was an atmosphere of absolute terror, menace and threats.”
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Trio ‘can expect significant custodial sentences’
Stewart was also convicted of drugs charges, while his co-accused pleaded guilty to narcotics offences earlier in proceedings.
Judge Lady Drummond remanded the trio and called for reports into their backgrounds.
She told them: “You can all expect a significant custodial sentence for these offences.”
The trio will be sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow in February.
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Following conviction, it emerged that prosecutors intend to launch proceeds of crime action against Stewart and McGowan in relation to criminal assets made from drug dealing.
That is expected to call at the High Court in Edinburgh sometime in the near future.
