Anthony Cleary and co-defendant Elias Morgan both deny the murder of Lenny Scott, who was shot in February 2024
Lenny Scott murder accused Anthony Cleary (right) and Elias Morgan pictured at Glastonbury(Image: Lancashire Police)
A man accused of murder bought a car on Facebook minutes after his co-defendant called him and said he had “done someone”, a court has heard. HMP Altcourse guard Lenny Scott died aged 33 after being shot six times by a gunman in a hi-vis jacket outside a gym on Peel Road in Skelmersdale on February 8 last year.
Elias Morgan and Anthony Cleary, both of Edge Hill, are currently on trial at Preston Crown Court charged with his murder. Morgan is alleged to have been the man who pulled the trigger in an “act of retaliation”, which came nearly four years after the officer exposed an illicit relationship between Morgan and a female prison guard while Morgan was a serving prisoner.
Mr Scott, from Prescot, was said to have refused a bribe of £1,500 in return for not reporting a phone which Morgan illegally held behind bars and which contained evidence of this affair, leading to the 35-year-old, of Highgate Street, apparently warning him “I’ll bide my time, but I promise I will get you”. Cleary, 29 and of Smithdown Lane, is meanwhile accused of assisting the gunman by sourcing a van and e-bike used during the shooting.
Giving evidence to a jury of 11 people yesterday, Tuesday, Cleary told the court he believed Morgan was responsible for the shooting of Mr Scott because the alleged gunman called him on the night of the incident. Cleary told the jury he received the call from Morgan at around 11pm on the day of the shooting, who told him “he had done someone in Skem”.
Cleary told the court in the wake of the phone call he checked on the ECHO before searching for “Skem news now” where he accessed a police update notifying people of an ongoing incident.
Cleary, sporting ginger hair and wearing a grey jumper over a shirt and tie, was cross-examined in the afternoon by Morgan’s senior counsel Caroline Goodwin KC. Ms Goodwin, who is supported by junior counsel Andrew Alty, asked where Cleary received the call, with the defendant telling the court he believed he was back home.
Lenny Scott murder accused Anthony Cleary (left) and Elias Morgan pictured at Glastonbury(Image: Lancashire Police)
He told the court he “can’t remember the full conversation” and “would be speculating” if he said more. When pressed by Ms Goodwin for details of the call, he said it was over a year ago and he “wanted to block the call out”. Ms Goodwin told the defendant: “You are on trial yourself, Mr Cleary. You would have thought long and hard about your position, wouldn’t you? You didn’t give help to the police, did you?” Cleary confirmed he hadn’t.
Ms Goodwin asked, having heard the news that his friend of 15 years had “done someone”, what did Cleary do. The defendant said again he couldn’t remember other than checking the ECHO app for news. Ms Goodwin asked Cleary if on February 8 he had been trying to buy a car from a woman called Camilla via Facebook Messenger. He confirmed he had.
Ms Goodwin said: “So, in those shocking moments, at 11.07pm you’re in communication with Camilla. You were busy engineering the purchase of a vehicle.” Cleary replied: “Yes, I was trying to sort another problem.” Ms Goodwin said: “Is it accurate it has taken place after you had the call that he had killed someone?” Cleary said: “He didn’t say he had killed someone.” Ms Goodwin questioned if Cleary was “trying to blame Mr Morgan?”, to which he responded: “It’s the truth.”
Ms Goodwin told the defendant: “By panicking you are trying to dig yourself out of trouble. If you had (been told) a confession, you wouldn’t negotiate the sale of a car.” She added: “You didn’t receive a confession about a shooting, did you?” Cleary replied he did.
Lenny Scott pictured with his young daughter(Image: Lancashire Constabulary)
Ms Goodwin also asked Cleary about the movements of the Vauxhall Combo van, which he accepted he drove to Skelmersdale “under instruction” from Morgan but without any further knowledge about the reasons why. The court has heard Cleary drove initially to Darfield in the West Lancashire town, before moving it to nearby Daybrook.
He told the court he did so after speaking with Morgan. When asked where the phone call where this alleged conversation took place, Cleary said: “It’s not there.” Ms Goodwin said: “It appears to be that you single-handedly made that decision. Your original instructions were to take the vehicle around to Darfield. The person who unilaterally made that decision to go to Daybrook was you, wasn’t it?” Cleary said no.
Ms Goodwin asked Cleary about his defence statement. She said: “In your defence statement read over in February 2025, you said that you recall a resident appearing to watch you look for somewhere to park? Someone was watching you.” The defendant replied: “They weren’t watching, but they were getting things out the back of their car.”
He said he walked between an alley between Daybrook and Darfield to return to the parked low-loader before parking the Combo van. Cleary said he saw the alley through the lights of his van, but Ms Goodwin responded: “I’m going to say that’s absolute rubbish. You knew the location of where this van was going to be parked.”
Ms Goodwin referenced a piece of footage which showed a figure walking from Darfield to Daybrook after parking a Mercedes GLC. After Cleary asked if she was saying Morgan was in the Mercedes, Ms Goodwin responded: “No, not at all. Because he wouldn’t have made the mistake if he was the one giving you instructions, do you understand that?” He confirmed he did.
Police at the cordoned off scene on Peel Road after the shooting of Mr Scott(Image: No credit)
Ms Goodwin told Cleary: “I suggest you aren’t telling the truth. You are simply gutless, you are panicking and trying to blame Mr Morgan.”
During his earlier evidence, Cleary told the jury he hadn’t answered police questions during two arrest interviews because of “dangerous consequences”, adding he “wanted to get away” from Morgan but felt “trapped”. When asked by his counsel Tim Forte KC why he was now answering questions during the trial, Cleary said because he was “terrified” and felt sad by the situation, adding he felt “sad for the family, sad for everyone”.
Alex Leach KC previously told the jury during the prosecution’s opening: “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, recruiting Anthony Cleary to assist him in doing so.
“Moreover, the prosecution say that, when you have examined the fine detail of the evidence, you will be sure not only that Elias Morgan is guilty of murder by organising the killing of Lenny Scott, you will be sure that it was he who pulled the trigger himself. For his part, Anthony Cleary played a supporting role.
“Acting on instructions, he delivered the van containing the electric motorbike used by the gunman to a housing estate close to the gym. Moreover, he knew that he was delivering the van and bike so that they could be used by a gunman who intended to kill Lenny Scott, or at least to cause him really serious harm.
“The evidence, when examined in detail, reveals a powerful image, one in which Elias Morgan, driven by a desire for revenge and reliant on Anthony Cleary for his assistance, planned and executed the murder of Lenny Scott. Both men, the prosecution say, are guilty of his murder.”
Both defendants deny murder, while Cleary has also pleaded not guilty to a second count of manslaughter. The trial, before Mr Justice Goose, continues.
