Gunman who killed ex-prison officer over sexting colleague jailed for 45 years

Elias Morgan, 35, was jailed for a minimum of 45 years for murdering former prison officer Lenny Scott, 33, in a ‘revenge attack’ outside a gym in February 2024

A man who brutally murdered former prison officer Lenny Scott in a chilling “revenge attack” has been sentenced to a minimum of 45 years behind bars. Elias Morgan, 35, from Edge Hill, gunned down father-of-three Mr Scott, shooting him six times outside a gym on Peel Road in Skelmersdale on February 8 last year.

Masked gunman Morgan, donning an orange hi-vis jacket during the shocking ambush, pulled the trigger in an “act of retaliation” nearly four years after ex-HMP Altcourse guard Mr Scott, 33, revealed an illicit relationship between then serving prisoner Morgan and a female prison officer.

Mr Scott, hailing from Prescot, reportedly turned down a bribe of £1,500 to keep quiet about a mobile phone which Morgan illegally possessed in prison, a device that held evidence of the clandestine affair. Morgan, of Highgate Street, later threatened Mr Scott with the ominous words “I’ll bide my time, but I promise I will get you”, even making a gun gesture towards him.

Morgan was unanimously found guilty of Mr Scott’s murder by an 11-person jury at Preston Crown Court last week, Friday. He returned to the same court for sentencing by high court judge Mr Justice Goose today, Tuesday.

Morgan, appearing in the dock with dark hair, glasses and a fleece, showed no reaction as he was informed he would spend at least the next 45 years in prison, minus the time he has already served, reports the Liverpool Echo.

During sentencing, Mr Justice Goose stated: “I’m sure this murder was because the victim was a prison officer carrying out his duty…I’m also sure that in your mind was revenge. You are used to getting your own way through threats and violence.”

He questioned: “Why did it take four years? It’s because you told him you would take your time. This was a carefully planned, revenge killing of a prison officer.”

Lucy Griffiths, mother to Mr Scott’s twin boys, said in a statement to the court: “Lenny didn’t deserve what happened to him – he was doing his job. Taking his life so brutally knowing he had children too. He didn’t stop to think for one second about his poor babies and the wider impact felt by everyone who loved Lenny.”

Lucy Carnill, former partner and mother to Mr Scott’s young daughter, spoke of their determination to honour his memory: “This can not ruin our family, that is the last thing Lenny would want for his children. We all live through his children now and in Lenny’s honour we will instil the values that he always wished to.”

Launching the case nine weeks earlier, Alex Leach KC, prosecuting, informed the court: “The murder was, the prosecution says, an act of retaliation. The prosecution says that, once you have heard the evidence, you will be sure that, at the very least, Elias Morgan orchestrated Lenny Scott’s murder.

Mr Scott was serving as a prison officer at the privately-run HMP Altcourse when he discovered a phone in Morgan’s cell on 26 March 2020. The court heard that not only was possession of the phone illegal, but “Morgan knew there was evidence on it which would lead to the discovery of a sexual relationship between him and a female prison officer”, named Sarah Williams.

Following the unearthing of the phone, Morgan allegedly threatened Mr Scott, pressuring him to “balls up the paperwork” and tempting him with a hefty bribe. However, when Mr Scott declined, Morgan reportedly embarked on a spree of threats, making a gun gesture and warning him that his “home would be blown up with his family inside”.

Morgan was charged with unauthorised possession of a mobile phone in April 2023 and was set to face trial on 19 February 2024 – just 11 days after Mr Scott was tragically murdered. In the run-up to the shooting, Morgan is said to have conducted “reconnaissance” at locations associated with Mr Scott, including his home and the Skelmersdale gym.

The night before the fatal shooting, Morgan ensured a van was stationed at the end of a cul-de-sac not far from the gym. Anthony Cleary, 29, who shared the dock with Morgan during the trial, admitted he had delivered the van, which housed an electric Sur-Ron bike used by Morgan to reach the murder scene, but claimed he was oblivious to his former friend’s plans.

Cleary, who was acquitted of murder and an alternative charge of manslaughter by the same jury, informed the court the first he learnt of the killing was when Morgan telephoned him later that evening and said he had “done someone in Skem”. He stated he didn’t report Morgan to police due to concerns for his own safety.

The court was informed that Morgan was a man “with a reputation of violence, control and revenge”, whilst Prison Service records read to the jury disclosed he had a background of “threatening grave violence, including death threats…to punish grassing”.

The court heard Morgan had five convictions for nine offences, including conspiracy to rob, attempted robbery and two counts of causing injury by dangerous driving.