McGraw widow wins court battle

THE widow of crimelord Tam 'The Licensee' McGraw has won a bitter court battle against the family of a murdered pal.

The parents of gangster Gordon Ross have now been ordered to pay back £125,000 that Margaret McGraw lent him just months before he was knifed to death.

The underworld enforcer's father Gordon Snr and his wife must also cough up a bonus and Margaret's court costs from their son's estate.

Last night Margaret - now engaged to McGraw's long-term pal Jim McMinimee - told of her relief at the end of the three-year wrangle.

The 56-year-old said: "I'm glad it's over. Had Gordon been alive the money would have been repaid without a problem.

"He would have been appalled to think I had to go to court to resolve everything."

Dad-of-four Ross, 36, was a frequent visitor to McGraw's home in Glasgow's East End.

Ross and the crime boss - who died, aged 55, from a heart attack in July last year - were among a gang who smuggled Moroccan hashish into Scotland on holiday coaches.

They were arrested following a major police probe - yet both were cleared after a lengthy trial at the High Court in Edinburgh in 1998.

The scam was said to have netted the gang millions of pounds. But Ross and lover Kellie Anne O'Neill were short of funds to extend his home in Coatbridge, Lanarkshire.

When a £100,000 loan to buy an adjoining property fell through, Margaret offered to provide the cash. Lawyers drew up an agreement which included a clause that if the house was sold, she and Ross would split any profit.

But before work started, Ross was fatally stabbed after being lured to an ambush outside the Sheiling Bar in Shettleston, Glasgow, in September 2002. The crime remains unsolved. Following his murder the house was sold for £150,000, making a £50,000 profit.

Three years ago, Margaret began action to recoup the loan from her friend's estate.

The matter was finally resolved at Glasgow Sheriff Court earlier this month. A pal of Margaret's said: "He was furious when Gordon's parents did not sort this out from the very outset.

"Now Margaret is to receive the original £100,000, plus half the £50,000 profit on Gordon's house and her expenses."

Shortly after the start of legal proceedings, Gordon Ross Snr said at his home in East Kilbride, Lanarkshire: "This is a private matter but we will NOT be paying the McGraws anything."