Brother of Alex Blue calls for live police probe 18 years on

Alex Blue was attacked in the driveway of his luxury home in the West End of Glasgow in June 2002 and died aged 41 two days later in hospital from horrific head injuries.

At the time, Alex ran the Taxi Centre in nearby Hyndland which supplied cars and equipment to the private hire taxi trade.

From day one, police drew a blank in a bid to solve the case due in part to a lack of witnesses and the victim’s complicated financial affairs.

In recent years his murder has been treated as a cold case, subject to occasional reviews.

Alex’s older brother Billy Blue thinks three men were involved in killing Alex and has given police the name of a fourth man he claims ordered the hit.

He believes there is enough evidence to charge the fourth person with murder.

Billy, 63, said: “This should be a live ongoing investigation, not a cold case.

“Cold case to me means cold storage.

“Far from winding this inquiry down the police should have been stepping it up with the evidence they now have.

“It’s time to take this case out of cold storage and bring those responsible to justice.”

Alex’s battered body was found around 12.20am on June 25 outside his home in Dundonald Road in the upmarket Dowanhill area of Glasgow.

Over the past two decades, Billy, 62, and mum Kathy, 87, have made numerous public appeals for information.

His murder also featured on Crimewatch and a documentary series presented by Taggart star Alex Norton called Unsolved.

Billy, who looks after his elderly mother at the family home in Robroyston, added: “Alex was very fit, he was a trained kick boxer who could look after himself and would not have been easily overpowered.

“I believe my brother’s violent death was financially motivated.

“This was a well thought-out, well-organised murder.

“Alex would have known his killers.

“Only someone he trusted would have taken him off guard.

“I don’t think the man who ordered the hit was there.

“He would have been sitting in a late-night bar or restaurant in another part of the city making sure he was seen.”

Billy says Alex’s murder and the family’s fight for justice has badly affected Kathy who still can’t bear to look at old photographs of her son.

Billy added: “Our mother is not in the best of health but has never given up hope that his killer will be brought to justice.

“She still has nightmares to this day over what she saw of Alex in the hospital after he was taken there.

“She also wakes up screaming in the middle of the night and finds it hard to cope.

“It’s a terrible thing for her to have to bear and has wrecked her life.”

The Blue family previously wrote to Police Scotland in 2017 asking them to reopen the inquiry.

Eight years ago Billy and Kathy donated £91,400 from his estate to CHAS, which cares for terminally-ill children.

Former Met Police detective, author and TV presenter Peter Bleksley has met the Blue family on a number of occasions.

He first wrote about Alex’s death in 2005 for a bestseller On The Run about unsolved murders in Britain.

Peter said: “Billy has gone above and beyond the call of duty to secure justice for his brother.

“I really admire him for sticking at it.

“It one of the cases where I hope I get a call one day to tell me that the police have charged somebody.”

Today, Police Scotland renewed their appeal for information on Alex Blue’s murder and said all evidence in the case was regularly reviewed with officials from the Crown Office.

Detective Inspector Hannah Edward added: “Police Scotland never considers cases closed and the passage of time is no barrier to the investigation of unresolved homicide cases.

“We continue to relentlessly pursue advances in technology and investigative approaches which help bring those responsible for serious and violent crimes to justice and provide answers for families of the victims of such crimes.

“Scientific and forensic developments, combined with information from the public and determined investigative work, can yield new opportunities in such cases.

“If anyone has any new information that could assist the investigation into the murder of Alexander Blue please contact Police Scotland or, alternatively, you can call Crimestoppers anonymously.”