The senior members of the Daniel clan
Eddie Lyons and Ross Monaghan were executed in Spain. (Image: Daily Record)
Two Daniel crime clan lieutenants hiding out in Dubai are “claiming to have organised” the executions of Ross Monaghan and Eddie Lyons in Spain earlier this year.
Hitman Michael Riley, 45, was arrested in Liverpool in June accused of the double murder of Lyons, 46, and Monaghan, 43, after they were shot dead at a pub in Fuengirola on May 31. He is now in a Spanish jail awaiting trial.
But an underworld source told the Record a pair of Daniel hoods, who fled Glasgow for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the summer, say they are responsible for orchestrating the murder plot as they live it up in the desert.
One of the men has been embroiled in the feud between the Lyons and Daniel families over the last 25 years and was a known foot soldier for slain Daniel enforcer Kevin ‘Gerbil’ Carroll. He has been shot at on two occasions and survived a number of other attempts on his life.
He is understood to have been biding his time to take revenge on the Lyons crew and is claiming to have paid the bounty to the hitman.
Michael Terrence Riley.
The other hood was released from jail earlier this year and has long standing criminal connections with mobsters in Liverpool. He was previously slapped with lengthy prison time for his involvement in a massive UK-wide drug dealing operation and also has another conviction for money laundering.
The thug, who is a close pal of Steven “Bonzo” Daniel, is said to be boasting that he is the key figure in planning the murders and hiring the gunman from his prison cell.
The source said: “These two people have been mentioned by those in the know ever since Eddie and Ross were murdered.
“They had been lying low but suddenly appeared in Dubai at the end of the summer. The pair of them have been boozing heavily and are constantly out at rooftop bars and pool parties.
Eddie Lyons and Ross Monaghan were murdered at Monaghans in Fuengirola(Image: X/Daily Record)
“As soon as they get a drink in them, they’re telling people about their roles in the Fuengirola murders and shouting off about the Daniel firm winning the gang war. Maybe they are just chasing clout but they are both very serious players so it is more than possible.
“What is certain is they are painting a target on their backs. The Lyons mob are desperate to retaliate so if they ever come home to Scotland they’ll be constantly watching their backs.”
We reported last month that Lyons family boss Steven is “consumed with bloodlust as he plans revenge for the death of his brother and best friend.
An underworld source explained how he blames the Daniel clan and is determined to take out a senior member of the crime family.
They said: “Steven believes the murders in Spain were ordered by the Daniel crew and he won’t be persuaded otherwise.
“Immediately after Eddie and Ross were killed, he vowed revenge and he has been brooding on it for a while.
“He is completely consumed with bloodlust and wants to take out a high-ranking Daniel member.”
The source continued: “He’s told his crew it’s time for payback and he wants dead bodies.”
Ross McGill(Image: @RossMcG1872)
Spanish cops have always maintained that Eddie and Ross’s killer is linked to the Daniel clan, while Police Scotland insist there is “no evidence” that the assassinations were planned on home turf or linked to kingpin Ross McGill’s gang feud with cocaine boss Mark Richardson’s crew.
At the time of the murders, the Lyons mob had been assisting McGill, 31, and his Tamo Junto (TMJ) gang in their fued with Richardson’s mob over a stash of cocaine paid for with fake bank notes.
Head of the family Steven Lyons, 44, identified targets in the Daniel clan for TMJ to attack due to the Glasgow crime family’s long standing association with Richardson.
In the weeks before the Spain shootings two men were attacked with machetes at an East Kilbride garage belonging to Robert Daniel, 50 and days later one of Richardson’s close friends, David McMillan, 54, was seriously injured after he was chopped with blades outside his home in Edinburgh.
Steven Lyons.(Image: Spindrift)
The gang feud quietened down over the summer months before McGill was arrested in Dubai alongside Steven Lyons and Steven Larwood, 42, in September.
They were released after 12 days and booted out of the United Arab Emirates and told never to return, but their current whereabouts remain unknown.
Stephen ‘Jimmy’ Jamieson, 42, was arrested on the same day and was later returned to Scotland where he appeared at Glasgow Sheriff Court earlier this month.
He was charged with six offences including directing serious organised crime and involvement in serious organised crime, and four offences concerning the supply of drugs.
The alleged offences date from 2020.
He made no plea and was remanded in custody.
Police Scotland has arrested 62 people as part of their Operation Portaledge probe into the violence and two men have been slapped with lengthy jail sentences.
Liam McDermid, 25, was caged for six years and nine months in November after using a metal detector to search for a Glock pistol which had been hidden near a primary school in the capital.
Earlier this month, Arran Reid, 27, was jailed for eight years and four months after a machete attack on McMillan in May.
Gunman Nicky Robertson, 38, was also convicted this month after firing three bullets at the home of another of Richardson’s pals, Patrick Beatson and will be sentenced in the new year.
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