Orkney murder conviction taken on by campaigning lawyer Aamer Anwar

Michael Ross was convicted of Shamsuddin Mahmood's murder

The case of a man convicted 10 years ago for the murder of a waiter in Orkney has been taken on by campaigning lawyer Aamer Anwar.

Michael Ross was found guilty of shooting Shamsuddin Mahmood, 26, in the head in Kirkwall's Mumataz Restaurant in 1994.

The former Black Watch sniper was jailed for a minimum of 25 years in 2008 after being convicted of murder.

Mr Anwar said many people believed it was a miscarriage of justice.

Mr Mahmood was shot in full view of a room full of diners, including families with children, by a masked gunman.

Cache of arms

Ross - 15 at the time of the crime - was found guilty of the murder after a trial at the High Court in Glasgow in 2008.

When the verdict was delivered, he fled from the dock before being caught by a court official and police.

He had a cache of arms hidden in a hired car parked less than a mile away.

Mr Anwar said he was convinced there were witnesses with information about the murder who had yet to come forward.

Campaigners - having exhausted other legal avenues - hope that having a well-known lawyer on board, and a renewed appeal for witnesses, can help find information that could cast doubt on the conviction.