Former gangster in row with Scots zoo after they sold off giant gorilla heads
Barlinnie has learned Edinburgh Zoo sold off some of his earliest work without permission.Hugh Collins made several stunning animal heads at Edinburgh Zoo while on day-release from jail preparing for freedom after serving 16 years for murdering a gangland rival.Some of his work, created in the early 90s, is still on display around the zoo but other pieces had been placed in storage, including two gorilla heads.Hugh, 69, learned last week that not only had the zoo sold the pieces without consulting him, they had done so in front of TV cameras.Season 12, episode nine, of antique dealer Drew Pritchard’s popular Salvage Hunters featured a visit to the zoo in August 2016 and showed him buying the two heads for £1200.Hugh was told recently, after