Ian ‘Bronco’ MacLeod, the father of the sick blowtorch killer who died while in prison, is understood to have inspired the crazed ‘Begbie’ character from Trainspotting
The father of the sick “blowtorch” killer who died in jail is said to have been a notorious gang leader in the eighties.
Dean MacLeod passed away on Sunday (March 2) while in prison, shortly after assaulting a guard with a concoction of boiling water and sugar. The 43-year-old was serving a substantial sentence for his role, alongside his father Ian ‘Bronco’ MacLeod, in the torture and murder of two innocent men. Their heinous acts of prolonged torture and murder earned them the moniker ‘blowtorch killers’.
Now it’s emerged his surviving dad MacLeod senior was a feared gang leader in the eighties, carving out such a fearsome reputation he is believed to have been the inspiration for Trainspotting’s Begbie, Edinburgh Live reports.
On Reddit, one user said: “The father Ian ‘Bronco’ MacLeod used to run the gang in the 80s and it’s extremely likely to be the inspiration for Irvine Welsh’s Begbie. Real nasty guy, stabbed [a woman] in the face with a corkscrew in 2009 among other things.”
Dean MacLeod died at HMP Low Moss on March 2 just days after an alleged horror assault on a prison officer. Macleod and his dad Ian were serving life sentences for the horrific murders of two men in 2022.
The Scottish Prison Service confirmed MacLeod junior’s death, which occurred mere days after he launched an attack on a prison officer using a kettle filled with boiling water and sugar. A source from the prison told the Daily Record: “Denim was accused of assaulting a prison officer a few days before he died on Sunday.
“He’s never coped with being inside. The officer was said to have been attacked with sugar and boiling water.”
MacLeod and his father were condemned as “cowardly monsters” by a judge the previous year following their conviction for the stabbing, beating and disfiguring of two innocent men in a gruesome double homicide. They mutilated victim Derek Johnston by cutting off his ears, severing his nose and lip, and hammering nails into his eyes.
The sadistic duo inflicted 136 injuries on their second victim and neighbour, 66-year-old Desmond Rowlings.
The initials YLT, believed to represent the Edinburgh street gang Young Leith Team, were seared onto the remains of both victims while police later discovered parts of their bodies in a backpack owned by the culprits.
The monsters were sentenced to a minimum of 34 years behind bars. During the trial, Lord Arthurson described the savagery as “extreme, sustained and prolonged”.
Addressing the barbarians, he declared: “This is one of the worst cases of murder to come before the High Court.”
MacLeod senior is reportedly now living in trepidation over the possibility of being targeted by other prisoners since his son’s protection is gone.
A source disclosed: “Bronco will be devastated at his son’s death plus he’s an old man now and he needed his son for protection inside. A lot of prisoners are sickened at what they did to their victims.”