EXCLUSIVE: Full review into Ross conviction confirmed

A full review is to be launched into the conviction of Michael Ross, The Orcadian can reveal.

Scotland’s miscarriage of justice watchdog has confirmed to the newspaper that it will be examining the case of the former soldier.

Ross is serving a life sentence in prison for the 1994 murder of Shamsuddin Mahmood, having been convicted of the killing in 2008.

This new review marks the biggest development in the controversial case in over a decade, with the ex-soldier now granted a fresh opportunity to challenge his conviction.

Ross made an application to the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) this summer, using submissions from his supporters, who believe he is the victim of a miscarriage of justice.

The SCCRC has the powers to investigate potential wrongful convictions, and it can refer cases back to the appeal court if it believes there may have been a miscarriage of justice.

The commission told The Orcadian it is limited in what it can say about live cases, but it confirmed Ross’s application has progressed to a full review.

At a trial at the High Court in Glasgow, a jury found that, when he was 15 years old, he calmly walked into Kirkwall’s Mumutaz Indian Restaurant and shot Mr Mahmood before fleeing the scene.

One of the biggest investigations in the history of Northern Constabulary followed.

One early suggestion was that Bangladeshi waiter was the victim of a “professional execution”.

The inquiry then took a shocking turn as suspicion homed in on schoolboy Ross. He had been behaving suspiciously in Papdale Woods, wearing a balaclava, two weeks before the killing.

His alibi for the time of the murder didn’t appear to stack up and his father, Eddy, had the same kind of bullets as those used by the killer.

However, the case hit a wall until 2006 and the emergence of a new witness before the case came to trial two years later.

At the High Court in Glasgow, a jury convicted the Black Watch sergeant by a majority verdict.

Judge Lord Hardie said Ross committed a “vicious, evil, unprovoked murder of a defenceless man,” motivated by “extreme racist prejudice.”

Immediately after his conviction, he fled the dock and was later found guilty of being in possession of a cache of weapons in a car parked at a supermarket.

Ross has always maintained his innocence.

Soon after he was jailed, the Justice 4 Michael Ross campaign group formed to overturn what it believes to be a wrongful conviction.

The 48-year-old previously had his case rejected by the appeal court in 2012, and by the SCCRC during an earlier review which concluded in 2015.

Recent years have seen the controversial case hit the headlines again.

Two high-profile documentaries aired last year — one on Amazon Prime, and another on BBC Scotland.

During extensive reporting, The Orcadian has revealed a number of fresh insights about the crime, including new information which appeared to contradict the findings of previous appeal proceedings.

This focused on when the convicted murderer became a suspect for the killing, and whether police interviews with the teenager should have been permitted as evidence at his trial.

Earlier this year, the newspaper also reported on the findings of a never-before-seen police review, and then revealed that dozens of documents from the investigation had vanished.

Ross also spoke to The Orcadian in 2025, speaking publicly for the first time on the case.

In a two-part feature, the former soldier, who did not give evidence at his trial, answered the key questions of the prosecution for the first time.

He told the newspaper: “For years now, I’ve come to terms with the fact that I more than likely will just have to do the full sentence. It does not mean I will stop fighting against it, though. I do still have hope.”

Ross also explained his attempts to escape prison, most recently when he tried to scale the fence at HMP Shotts in 2018, using a rope ladder he fashioned.

Pick up next week’s newspaper for a full, exclusive breakdown of what the new review means for the case, and reaction.