Police in West Lothian have identified the human remains found by a dog walker close to the B7015 near West Calder as those of notorious Glasgow gangland figure Martin Hamilton who was wanted on a revocation of licence warrant.
The 53-year-old was jailed in 2000 for ordering the torture and kidnap of drug dealers from Edinburgh but was released last year. A £2000 reward had been offered for information as to his whereabouts and police have been trying to locate him for several months.
Detective Superintendent Kenny Graham said: “My condolences go out to the family of Martin Hamilton, who have had to receive such devastating news so close to Christmas. A team of officers is dedicated to this inquiry, so we can seek to give them answers as quickly as possible.
“We are continuing to conduct examinations with various scientific experts to establish exactly when and how Mr Hamilton died, and to ensure any evidence available can be captured from the scene and from the remains themselves.
“Work will be ongoing at the site near West Calder for several more days whilst we complete further searches and specialists carry out their work, so the area will stay closed off and the B7105 will also remain closed.”
A post mortem is expected to be carried out early next week to identify the case of death and determine how long Hamilton’s remains were in the area.
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
