A JOHNSTONE man who was found guilty of the attempted murder of a car dealer for a second time has been jailed for more than seven years.

Don Templeton was involved in the shooting of James McGurk, 45, at Crosslee Poultry Farm, in Bridge of Weir.

The 40-year-old was the getaway driver, while convicted murderer John Docherty, 49, fired the weapon.

Mr McGurk was blasted from behind during the attack on October 31, 2017, but he told jurors his next memory was waking up on a kitchen floor, covered in blood.

Templeton was found guilty of attempted murder following a retrial at the High Court in Glasgow last month.

He had previously been jailed for eight years for the crime but that conviction was later quashed by appeal judges in 2019, due to a “legal matter,” and he was freed after eight months in prison.

Templeton was today handed the same sentence – but it was reduced by eight months due to the time he previously spent behind bars before being released.

Judge Alistair Watson told him: "This was a planned operation and involved the discharge of multiple shots.

"It is a matter of good fortune – and nothing other than that – the injuries were not catastrophic.

"I sentence you on the basis you were the driver and not the shooter."

Mr McGurk told the 2019 case he had been working on a car the day he was shot and did not know who carried out the attack.

He said at the time: "I cannot remember much. It is all a blur to me. I got shot from behind.

“I heard a bang and I was propelled forward.”

CCTV footage of the incident showed the injured victim, struck on the right buttock with shotgun pellets, staggering to a nearby farmhouse for help.

Asked about Templeton at the retrial, Mr McGurk stated: “We have always been pals.”

Jurors heard the pair made attempts to contact each other 10 times on the day before the murder bid.

Miss Harper asked the victim: “What were the frantic calls about?”

Mr McGurk replied: “About a car or something like that.”

Miss Harper then asked: “Was there a dispute with Don?”

Mr McGurk replied: “No, we got on alright. I would not say we were at each other’s throats. We have only been pals.”

He also denied being involved in anything that would lead to him being shot.

Templeton and Docherty were caught on CCTV at a filling station just minutes before their distinctive Mercedes estate was again clocked driving into the farm and then speeding away.

Docherty, who murdered a pensioner in 1995 and was out on licence at the time of the attack on Mr McGurk, was jailed for 12 years in 2019 for his role in the shooting.