The murder of Lenny Scott, a devoted father of three and former prison officer, has sent shockwaves through the UK’s prison service and beyond. On February 8, 2024, Scott was shot six times—struck in both the head and body—outside a gym on Peel Road in Skelmersdale, Lancashire. The man behind the killing, 35-year-old Elias Morgan, was convicted of murder on August 29, 2025, at Preston Crown Court, and is due to be sentenced on Tuesday, September 2, 2025. The case has exposed deep concerns about the safety of prison staff, both on and off the job, and the lingering dangers posed by vengeful former inmates.
According to BBC News, Scott’s murder was not a random act of violence, but a carefully orchestrated act of revenge. The roots of the crime stretch back to March 2020, when Scott, then a prison officer at HMP Altcourse in Liverpool, discovered an illicit iPhone in Morgan’s cell. The phone contained evidence of Morgan’s sexual affair with a female prison officer, Sarah Williams. Refusing a £1,500 bribe to “lose” the phone, Scott reported the contraband, exposing the affair and triggering Morgan’s fury.
The consequences for Scott were immediate and chilling. As reported by BBC News, Morgan began threatening Scott, telling him he would “bide his time” but would “get him.” Scott’s family later revealed that he became deeply unsettled, especially after learning that Morgan had somehow obtained details of his address, partner, and children. In a statement read in court, Scott’s mother, Paula, recounted her son’s fear that Morgan had acquired this information from the female prison officer involved. However, no direct evidence of this was presented during the trial.
Morgan’s violent reputation was well known within the prison system. Prison intelligence logs, as cited by BBC News, documented a history of grave threats and intimidation dating back to 2011. Morgan was known to coerce both fellow inmates and staff, and he claimed he could reach out to “people in the community” to carry out acts of violence on his behalf, using “a variety of weapons.”
Despite these warnings, Morgan was released from HMP Altcourse in October 2020. For months leading up to the murder, he is believed to have surveilled Scott’s home and the gyms he frequented. On the morning of February 8, 2024, Morgan lay in wait outside a gym, ambushed Scott, and shot him six times. Emergency services arrived swiftly, but Scott was beyond help and died later in hospital. Morgan fled the scene on an electric bike, a detail confirmed by multiple sources, including The Standard.
The aftermath of the murder has been marked by grief and outrage. Wendy Logan, deputy head of CPS North West’s complex casework unit, praised Scott’s integrity and courage. “Lenny Scott was a devoted father who had bravely upheld his duty when working as a prison officer by reporting an illicit phone he found in Elias Morgan’s cell in 2020. He did so in the face of attempts at bribery and also threats and intimidation by Morgan – and his commitment to public service will not be forgotten,” Logan stated, as reported by The Standard. She went on to describe Morgan as “driven by revenge and believing he was above the law,” and called the killing a “cold-blooded murder.”
Scott’s murder has deeply unsettled the prison service. Mark Fairhurst, chairman of the Prison Officers’ Association (POA), told the BBC that the killing was met with “shock and horror throughout the entire profession.” He emphasized the unprecedented nature of the crime, noting, “For this to happen, three years after someone’s left the job is unprecedented.” Fairhurst elaborated on the constant risks faced by prison staff: “We’re all subject to threats because of the risks we face, both inside the workplace and when we’re socialising. But I’ve never come across this sort of threat, which is carried out to such an extent, especially when someone’s left the job for such a long period.”
The murder has also forced a reckoning with the procedures in place to protect prison staff. Scott’s parents, Neil and Paula, have criticized Altcourse management for not taking the threats against their son seriously enough. Fairhurst echoed these concerns, arguing that the private sector—Sodexo has operated HMP Altcourse since 2023—needs to learn from the public sector, which has more robust procedures for removing staff from dangerous situations. “I’m hoping this whole sorry affair is a learning curve for the private sector to improve their processes and learn from the public sector on how we protect our staff,” Fairhurst said.
The impact on morale has been significant. Prison staff across the UK are now questioning whether the risks of the job are worth it, given the relatively modest pay and the ever-present threat of violence. As Fairhurst put it, “It makes you reconsider your career. Is it really worth the risk for the money you’re getting paid, because it’s not a well paid job. You’re in a hostile and violent environment, and now when you’re socialising outside of work or going about your daily activities out of the workplace you’re even under threat then.”
Statistics underscore the dangers faced by prison staff. Attacks on staff in UK prisons reached a new peak in March 2025, with 10,568 assaults reported in the previous 12 months, according to BBC News. The murder of Lenny Scott, however, stands out for its brutality and the fact that it targeted a former officer long after he had left the service.
Sodexo, the company now responsible for HMP Altcourse, issued a statement expressing its condolences and reaffirming its commitment to staff safety. “Our prison community has been devastated by the tragic death of our former colleague, Lenny Scott, and our deepest sympathies are with his family and friends. HMP Altcourse has been operated by a new provider since 2023 and is committed to continuously improving processes to safeguard our colleagues,” the company stated.
During the trial at Preston Crown Court, another man, Anthony Cleary, 29, of Smithdown Lane, Liverpool, was found not guilty of murder and manslaughter. The evidence presented made it clear that Morgan acted out of a long-standing grudge, planning and executing the murder with chilling precision.
As the prison service grapples with the fallout, one thing is clear: the killing of Lenny Scott has highlighted the very real dangers facing those who work to uphold the law, both behind prison walls and beyond. The profession, already marked by daily risks, now faces renewed questions about how best to protect its staff from threats that linger long after the job is done.
The sentencing of Elias Morgan is expected to bring some measure of justice, but for Scott’s family, friends, and colleagues, the pain of his loss—and the lessons learned from his tragic death—will not soon fade.
