Skip to content

Three jailed for killing man who jumped out of window in Dundee

BBC The exterior of the High Court in Glasgow, a large building with pillars at the entranceBBC
The trio were sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow

A man and two women have been jailed for killing a man who jumped from a window in Dundee to escape their attempts to extort money from him.

Stephen Stewart, 52, Jennifer Souter, 40, and Victoria McGowan, 43 were convicted of the culpable homicide of 36-year-old Ryan Munro.

A trial was told that they created an "environment of menace and threats" at the second-floor flat where they abducted Munro in Morgan Street in January 2024.

Stewart was jailed for 11 years, while Souter and McGowan were each sentenced to seven-and-a-half years.

Judge Lady Drummond told them: "Mr Munro remained in an extreme state of fear and alarm.

"He was so terrified about what might happen to him, he saw no other option but to make his escape by jumping from a window from a height and fell to his death.

"Miss Souter left and walked past him without acknowledgement."

The judge added that Munro would be missed by his family and they would "feel his loss deeply."

During the trial, Ramsay El-Nakla, the brother-in-law of former First Minister Humza Yousaf, was acquitted of extorting money from Munro at the flat and alleged drug offences.

Prosecutors accepted his not guilty pleas. He was not charged over Munro's death.

The trial was told that Stewart, Souter and McGowan had earlier abducted Munro at the flat by intimidating and threatening him and detaining him against his will.

The jury also heard evidence about how a phone linked to Stewart contained a message about Munro's fall.

The message stated: "(Expletive) awful luck aye hun.

"It's not me but I think the pilot test failure may have quite hurt even to the max hon.

"As far as I'm aware it's from Vicki's flat where he ran and superman time."

In his closing speech, prosecutor Alex Prentice KC told jurors that this evidence could be used to corroborate other pieces of information which they had heard which showed the trio's guilt.

Following conviction, it emerged that prosecutors will now launch a proceeds of crime action against Stewart and McGowan in relation to criminal assets made from drug dealing.