A convict who gunned down a prison officer as ‘revenge’ for exposing his relationship with a female officer has been jailed to 45 years behind bars before parole.
Elias Morgan, 35, gunned down father-of-three Lenny Scott, 33, who had found the phone which revealed Morgan was in a sexual relationship with a female prison officer, Preston Crown Court heard.
Morgan, from Edge Hill, Liverpool, first tried to bribe Mr Scott, at the time working at HMP Altcourse, Merseyside, offering him £1,500 to not report the find.
When he refused and reported the phone Morgan threatened his victim’s family before vowing revenge, telling Mr Scott, ‘I’ll bide my time’ and making a gun gesture.
Almost four years later, after Morgan had served his sentence and Mr Scott, from Prescott, Merseyside, had left the Prison Service, he carried out the threat.
Mr Scott was leaving a gym in Skelmersdale, Lancashire, on the evening of February 8 last year.
Morgan shot his victim with a 9mm handgun once in the head and five times in the body, before fleeing on an electric scooter.
He was arrested after detectives from Lancashire Police began investigating and uncovered the threats Morgan had made to his victim.
Elias Morgan (left) was found guilty of murdering prison officer Lenny Scott (right) in 2024
Lenny Scott, a father of three, was shot six times outside the gym by a gunman
Prison officer Sarah Williams admitted three offences of misconduct in a public office in June 2023
Morgan denied any involvement but was convicted of murder by a jury last Friday following a nine-week trial.
Passing sentence Mr Justice Goose told the defendant: ‘This murder was a carefully planned, revenge killing of a prison officer. He was loved, respected and made his family proud.’
Morgan handed himself in to police after his name began circulating in connection with the shooting, but denied any involvement.
He was bailed while police gathered evidence.
Detectives traced phone and vehicle data revealing in the weeks before the killing Morgan had spent time stalking his victim to learn his daily schedule before launching the attack.
Morgan’s co-accused, Anthony Cleary, 29, from Liverpool, was found not guilty by the jury of murder and manslaughter.
Earlier the trial heard, Mr Scott had found the phone in Morgan’s cell at HMP Altcourse, a category B privately-operated jail, in March 2020 and he was charged in April 2023.
Elias Morgan (right) is pictured attending Glastonbury Festival in Somerset in June 2023 with co-defendant Anthony Cleary (left). Cleary was found not guilty of murder and manslaughter
Mr Scott left the gym shortly before 5:30pm and stood chatting to someone in the car park
A man, wearing orange hi-vis, could be seen loitering nearby, seemingly waiting for someone
As Mr Scott stood chatting, the man approached him before rounding the corner with a gun
Lenny Scott found a mobile phone in Elias Morgan’s cell at HMP Altcourse (above) in Liverpool
Mr Scott had left the Prison Service in 2021 and played no part as a witness in the prosecution.
Prison officer Sarah Williams admitted three offences of misconduct in a public office in June 2023.
Morgan denied a charge of unauthorised possession of the mobile phone and a court hearing was scheduled for February 19, 2024 – 11 days after Mr Scott was murdered.
The gun used in the murder has never been recovered.
