Detectives make further gangland feud arrests taking total to 52

BBC News

05-07-2025

Detectives investigating a gangland feud that has led to assaults, shootings and fire bombings across the east and west of Scotland have made a further two arrests, taking the total to 52.On Friday officers arrested a man in Blantyre, South Lanarkshire, in connection with the attempted murder of businessman David McMillan in Edinburgh in May.The 49-year-old, who was also charged in connection with drugs offences, is expected to appear before Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Monday.Meanwhile, on Thursday a 22-year-old man was arrested in connection with wilful fire-raising after vehicles were set alight on two Edinburgh streets last month.
The suspect, who was released pending further inquiries, is the second person to be arrested in connection with the blazes on Campion Road and Niddrie Marischal Crescent on 9 June.
The investigation, called Operation Portaledge, was launched in response to a series of violent incidents since March.Mr McMillan, 54, is believed to have been targeted three times.In April the front door of his home in Pitcairn Grove was set on fire. Weeks later, two vehicles were torched outside the house.Then on 22 May, Mr McMillan was hospitalised after being attacked by four or five masked men.Two men, aged 20 and 26, have already been charged in connection with the attack.Police Scotland chief constable Jo Farrell said the force was pursuing crime group leaders based abroad over the feud.
Two rival families - the Daniels and Lyons - have been linked to the attacks.Both groups have been involved in a bitter feud that dates back more than 20 years.It has resulted in three murders and dozens of violent incidents across Scotland.But on 31 May two senior Lyons group figures - Eddie Lyons Jnr and Ross Monaghan - were shot dead at a bar in Fuengirola on the Costa del Sol.At the time there was speculation the Spain shootings were linked to the recent tit-for-tat attacks in Scotland.But three days after the murders Police Scotland said they were not aware of any evidence connecting them to the east-west feud.The force later maintained its position after a Spanish detective said suspect Michael Riley - who will face an extradition hearing in October - was a member of the Daniel group.On Friday hundreds of mourners attended a joint funeral for Lyons Jnr, 46, and Monaghan, 43, in Bishopbriggs, East Dunbartonshire.
How the feud developed
A series of attacks began on 2 March when a car was set on fire in Edinburgh's Parrotshot areaA beauty salon in Leith and a garage in Portobello were also targeted over a 10-day periodLater, shots were reported as being fired at two properties in Niddrie and Pilton in separate incidentsFurther firebomb attacks were reported on another house in Niddrie at the start of April, just as the first property in Glasgow was targeted in the Robroyston areaA carpet business in Bishopbriggs and another commercial premises in Kirkintilloch were also hit, alongside homes in Glasgow and Stepps.In April, a 72-year-old woman and a 12-year-old boy were assaulted at a house in Egilsay Crescent in Milton, GlasgowTwo more properties in Bishopbriggs were set alightTwo men were taken to hospital following a serious assault at a garage in East Kilbride on 19 MayA 54-year-old man needed hospital treatment after he was attacked by a group of men at a house at Pitcairn Grove, Edinburgh - the third time an incident was reported at this propertyA large house in the Bridge of Weir was set alight on 2 JunePolice recover firearm believed to be linked to violence from Roseburn Path in Edinburgh on 11 JuneRead the full timeline here.