The death of a crime gang member who plotted to rob a luxury jeweller at St Andrews is to be probed by a sheriff.
Paul Hogwood, 60, was part of a seven-man group which intended to raid Mappin & Webb at St Andrews golf course.
They bought weapons, carried out a visit to the shop and stole two Italian scooters to use as getaway vehicles.
Unknown to the would-be raiders, police had been watching them and swooped to make arrests moments before the heist could take place in March 2015.
The gang was jailed for a total of 47 years after being found guilty by jurors of conspiracy to rob.
Hogwood found dead
Career criminal Hogwood, of London, was found dead in HMP Perth in January last year having served half of his 10-year sentence.
He had received the longest sentence of the crime crew.
A fatal accident inquiry will be held at Falkirk Sheriff Court later this year, where the full circumstances of the death will be investigated.
Such probes are mandatory for deaths in prisons.
The trial
During a trial at the High Court in Paisley, evidence was heard Hogwood made a telephone call while on remand and said: “If they had turned up 10 minutes later, they would have caught us right in the act.”
Officers had spotted four of the London-based gang when they were in the Fife town a week before the planned raid.
Police Scotland said the men were all part of a gang the Metropolitan Police Flying Squad believed were responsible for a series of smash-and-grab robberies in London.
Detectives from the Met liaised with their counterparts in Scotland after establishing the men planned to travel north and commit a similar crime.
The group were monitored in a “major surveillance operation” from the moment they entered Scotland.
Kevin Mulheron, 34, from Glasgow, was sentenced to seven and a half years imprisonment.
He was the “Scottish contact” for the gang who had “provided the Scottish base of operations” – his brother’s flat in Govan.
Peter Attwood, 44, his son Louie, 21, Kai McGinley, 18, Thomas Slayford, 20, and Benson Aluko, 20 were jailed for between five and nine years each.
