Edinburgh's Gary Tank Commander gangster hit with super-asbo

A notorious Capital gangster has been slapped with a so-called super ASBO to curb his activity once released from prison.

Convicted cocaine baron Mark Richardson will have his phone calls and internet usage monitored and bank accounts checked.

The 31-year-old will also be barred from meeting up with fellow criminals and have controls on his travel and how much money he can carry.

Richardson was involved in a high speed chase in May. Picture: Police Scotland

The Evening News reported last May how Richardson was handed extra jail time after a high speed chase with police in his Mini.

He whizzed through traffic, weaving in and out of other vehicles in Glasgow in December 2016 as a police helicopter kept watch overhead.

Richardson, nicknamed Gary Tank Commander by rivals because of his resemblance to the comedy character, is believed to have initially thought it was rival criminals who were following him.

But, after dumping the Mini in Glasgow’s Springburn and getting into another car, he was soon caught by officers from the Organised Crime and Terrorism Unit.

The incident emerged as Richardson appeared at Glasgow Sheriff Court. He had been part of a nine-strong major crime mob who were jailed for a total of 87 years last January.

Richardson was sentenced to 18 months after he pleaded guilty to culpable and reckless conduct.

The jail term was to run consecutively to the eight years and nine months he was given at the high court for having a Glock handgun.

Richardson was a member of a major crime gang said to have brought “fear and misery” to communities across Scotland.

The gang, which was behind the horrific torture of a man over an unpaid drug debt in West Lothian and a shooting in Edinburgh, was branded “brutal and merciless”.

Their nine strong mob - which acquired a huge arsenal of weapons - were locked up for their dealings in drugs, firearms, serious violence and dirty money.

The shooting, at the home of Robert Kelbie in Ratho, was investigated by police in 2016.

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