When a Doomed Edinburgh Relationship Ended in Carnage Between Families
A violent pub shooting in Edinburgh reveals a tragic family feud fueled by a tumultuous relationship
Edinburgh, Scotland, Jamie Bain, Dionne Hendry, Marmion Pub, Violence
Edinburgh: It was a typical Saturday night when chaos erupted at the Marmion pub. A masked man burst in, shotgun in hand, and started firing.
In just moments, one man was killed, and another was seriously hurt as the shooter fled into the night.
A crowd from the pub chased him down and gave him a brutal beating with his own weapon. Jamie Bain, high on cocaine, had targeted his partner’s family, known for their violent ways.
Their rocky relationship sparked that night’s violence and continued to stir trouble between the families for years. Bain married Dionne in 2014 while serving a life sentence for murder, with one family member calling it a “marriage made in hell.”
After the wedding, violence flared up again in Edinburgh, believed to be reignited by their union. Dionne’s Range Rover was shot at, and a fake bomb was left on her doorstep.
Dionne and Bain were childhood sweethearts who had their first child when she was just 16. But by 2006, Bain was deep in the city’s criminal scene, tangled up in a feud with a cocaine dealer.
Just weeks before the pub shooting, police warned Bain that his life was in danger. He claimed he had been attacked multiple times, including a machete assault and a near-fatal car incident.
In the midst of all this, Bain assaulted Dionne, leaving her with bruises that required hospital treatment. Police thought he was worried about retaliation from her family.
That night, Bain was at a party, high on cocaine, before heading to the pub with a stolen shotgun provided by a friend.
He shot James Hendry, who had just received a drink, and then turned the gun on Hendry’s brother-in-law, boxing champion Alex McKinnon, who later died from his injuries.
After the attack, Bain was hospitalized for a week and underwent plastic surgery. At his trial, his defense claimed he couldn’t remember the events leading up to the beating.
From prison, Bain expressed confusion over the incident, saying he couldn’t understand why it happened and lamenting the loss of his friend Alex.
He was sentenced to life with a minimum of 22 years. Bain even tried to get permission for “conjugal visits” from Dionne.
Fast forward seven years, and they tied the knot in Shotts Prison. A family member from the Hendry side remarked that it was a “marriage made in hell,” questioning how Dionne could marry the man who killed her brother-in-law.
In 2008, Dionne’s brother was jailed for assaulting Bain’s family, and their marriage was thought to have reignited the feud. By September 2014, violence surged again in the city.
A family home was shot at, and Dionne’s Range Rover was left riddled with bullets. A chilling note was found with a petrol drum and shotgun shells on her doorstep.
That same night, another explosive device was discovered near a Bain ally’s home, and gunfire erupted at another property.
James Hendry, who survived the pub shooting, later faced jail time for a separate incident involving a fatal punch. He had a troubled past, including an acquittal for an alleged kidnapping attempt.
It’s a tangled web of violence and tragedy that continues to haunt these families.