Lenny Scott was killed outside his gym in a targeted shooting after exposing an inmate’s illicit affair
A brutal murder trial has laid bare a tale of vengeance, betrayal, and cold-blooded execution, as Merseyside reels from the killing of former prison officer Lenny Scott.
The 33-year-old father was shot dead outside his gym in February 2024, in what prosecutors claim was a calculated hit orchestrated by Elias Morgan, an ex-inmate with a long memory and a burning grudge.
Scott, described by friends and colleagues as honourable and devoted to both family and duty, had previously blown the whistle on Morgan’s secret relationship with a female officer while both were inside. That decision, prosecutors argue, sealed his fate.
“He said, ‘I’ll bide my time, but I promise I will get you,’” one witness recalled Morgan saying, allegedly miming a gun towards Scott after the scandal was exposed. Scott reported the affair, triggering disciplinary fallout and criminal charges. But behind bars, Morgan’s anger reportedly festered into a deadly obsession.
The court heard that Morgan, once freed, carried out his promise in the most chilling fashion. Dressed in a hi-vis jacket to blend in, he allegedly lay in wait outside Scott’s gym in Skelmersdale. As Scott left the building, he was shot six times at close range in a “planned and merciless” ambush.
The gunman fled on an electric bike before switching to a getaway van. That van, prosecutors say, was supplied by Morgan’s associate, 38-year-old Anthony Cleary, who also allegedly helped cover up the murder using false number plates and attempted to erase key digital evidence.
Scott’s family watched CCTV footage in court showing the final moments of his life. Sobs filled the courtroom as the footage was played. His relatives described the terror they had lived through in the months leading up to the attack, citing repeated threats, unnerving encounters, and a deepening sense of dread.
Embed from Getty Images“He knew something was coming,” a close friend said. “He wasn’t sleeping. He was always looking over his shoulder.”
For the prosecution, the case is clear: Morgan had motive, made multiple threats, and orchestrated a cold, calculated killing. Clearly, they argue, enabled the attack and helped cover Morgan’s tracks. The murder was personal. It was planned. And it was payback.
Both men deny all charges. Their defence teams argue that there is no concrete evidence linking either to the murder scene and have raised questions about police procedure, motive, and witness reliability.
Yet the mountain of circumstantial evidence—including deleted phone data, surveillance footage, and testimony about Morgan’s simmering resentment—is painting an increasingly damning picture.
The case has reignited questions about the dangers faced by whistleblowers in the prison system. If a man like Lenny Scott, acting on principle to expose wrongdoing, could be targeted and murdered after doing the right thing, what protections are really in place for staff?
Prison officers have voiced concern about retaliation, especially when reporting misconduct that implicates both inmates and staff. “This is the nightmare scenario,” one officer said anonymously. “You do your job, and it costs you your life.”
As the trial continues, the community of Skelmersdale remains in mourning, with tributes to Scott pouring in from friends, neighbours, and former colleagues. His gym remains shuttered, a haunting symbol of what was lost.
Whether justice will be served now lies in the hands of the jury. But one thing is certain: a family has been left broken, and a town left asking how revenge so calculated could unfold on their doorstep, without anyone able to stop it.
