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Gun suspect guarded after revenge attack Gethin Chamberlain Chief News Correspondent 24 April 2006, The Scotsman A MAN suspected of gunning down two drinkers in an Edinburgh pub was under police guard in hospital last night after the families of the victims took their violent revenge. James Bain, 22, was attacked - and according to one witness run over twice - in the street outside his home after walking into the Marmion pub in the Gracemount area of the city and opening fire with a shotgun. Former boxer Alex McKinnon, 32, died from his injuries but James Hendry, 26, survived. Police believe that the shooting was the penultimate act in a violent feud between the Bain and Hendry families which was triggered by a fallout between Bain and his partner, Dionne Hendry. Neighbours reported that Bain attacked Ms Hendry on Friday night, prompting members of her family to retaliate. The following night Bain is understood to have gone in search of revenge with another man whose identity remains unknown. According to eyewitnesses, Bain and his accomplice walked into the Marmion pub at about 10:50pm on Saturday night wearing dark coloured "hoodies" and with balaclavas. One witness, who was standing at a bus stop opposite the pub when the two walked past, said: "We were laughing at them because they were wearing the same clothes and then we heard the gunshots. I didn't know what the first one was but then there was a second. Then they came running out again chased by four guys from the pub. The best way of describing the men chasing them was enraged. They were shouting 'I'm going to get you' and that sort of thing." One of the people in the pub at the time of the shooting said that Bain and his accomplice were wearing balaclavas when they walked into the building, but they were rolled up on the top of their heads like hats. "They walked through the pub with the balaclavas rolled up because I don't think they wanted people to be suspicious but then they pulled them down just before the shooting started," the woman said. "But everyone knows everyone around here so it was obvious who they were." Other drinkers described how Bain pulled out the shotgun and fired twice, hitting Mr McKinnon and Mr Hendry. "It was just a normal night when suddenly this guy appeared," one said. "He pulled something out and there was a loud bang. At first I thought it was a firework, then realised he had a gun. Everyone started diving for cover, it was terrifying." Police sources said Bain and the other man escaped from their pursuers, but that a few hours later Bain was found in the garden of a house in the street in which he lived suffering from extremely serious injuries. Neighbours in Gilmerton Dykes Avenue said they were woken by the sound of screaming and crying. One woman said: "I heard what sounded like a woman screaming and greeting, but I thought it was people coming back from the pub. Then I could see there were police and vans everywhere." Part of the street around the house where Bain was found was cordoned off yesterday, but neighbours said they were not surprised to discover that he was involved. One described how Bain and Ms Hendry were both subject to an anti-social behaviour order after other residents had complained about their conduct. "They are well-known troublemakers," she said. "They are constantly falling out. He's said to be the local drug dealer. They are awful neighbours." Bain is due in court on Thursday this week to answer charges of breaching his ASBO after an incident in October when armed police were called to the house. Bain and Ms Hendry moved in about a year and half ago but no-one was answering the door at the couple's home yesterday. A caravan was parked in the driveway and rubbish was scattered across the front garden. Residents said they believed the latest episode began on Friday night when the couple fell out violently. One said: "He's been known to give her a doing before and he gave her a doing on Friday night. Hendry's family were not best pleased. She was in there with them and I heard that they retaliated against him later on that night." A police source said the attack in the Marmion pub was believed to be Bain's revenge for the beating he received on Friday night. "Bain has gone up to sort it out by shooting them, which is really stupid because they have both got really big families. We think they caught up with him later on." Another resident said Bain had been attacked after returning home on Saturday night. He said he understood that Bain had been run over twice in a dark section of the road where the street lights were not working. Police sources said Bain was in such a bad state when officers arrived that it was initially thought that he had been shot. Last night he was under police guard in hospital, with officers fearing that the feuding families may attempt to exact further revenge on each other. A source said that both Mr McKinnon and Mr Hendry were well-known to police and that both had a history of violence and other criminal activity. "They are not the sort of people to mess with," the source said. "They are both from big families and they are not the kind of people who phone the police if they have trouble. They would sort it out themselves." In his early twenties, Mr McKinnon was a promising bantamweight boxer.
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