Bodies of slain gangsters Ross Monaghan and Eddie Lyons Jnr released to families
Spanish authorities have authorised the release of the bodies of slain Scottish gangsters Ross Monaghan and Eddie Lyons Jnr to their loved ones.
A court in the Costa del Sol resort of Fuengirola which earlier this month issued an international arrest warrant for the hitman suspected of shooting them dead is continuing to probe the May 31 assassinations. It was not immediately clear today if either of the two funerals has yet taken place.
Asked today what the situation was with regards to the men's bodies, a Spanish judicial official said: 'Fuengirola's Court of Instruction Number Two which is coordinating the judicial investigation into the murders has authorised the release of the bodies to their families for them to do what they believe to be appropriate.'
The official was not able to say when the decision was taken, opening up the possibility funerals have already taken place in Spain - or in Scotland which would be the more likely scenario.
Double murder suspect Michael Riley, 44, is in prison in the UK awaiting extradition after being arrested in Liverpool on June 13, athough he has indicated he wants to fight a forced return to Spain to face charges there.
He was held on an international arrest warrant issued by the court in Fuengirola which authorised the release of his alleged victims' bodies to their families.
Spanish police chiefs described the man who shot the Scots mobsters late last month as a member of the rival Daniel crime clan, despite Police Scotland saying they had 'no intelligence' to suggest the killings were linked to the ongoing gangland turf war here.
Malaga-based Spanish National Police chief superintendent Pedro Agudo Novo revealed at a packed press conference the dramatic Liverpool arrest was made after detectives discovered the alleged hitman was about to flee his UK bolthole for a "paradise island tax haven."
He said: 'The double murder was carried out by a professional killer and member of one of the victims' rival gangs' before going on to detail how he fled Spain via Portugal and then took a plane to Leeds.
Last week Scotland's top cop, Chief Constable Jo Farrell, doubled down on the force's initial insistence it wasn't aware of any evidence Monaghan and Eddie Lyons Jnr's murders were linked to the ongoing gang feud here, or had been planned from Scotland.
Monaghans Fuengirola, the pub 46-year-old dad-of-two Ross owned and was shot dead at moments after his gang pal was killed with a bullet to the neck on the terrace outside, has now reopened under the new name Irish Rover.
A local landlord known only as Clive is running the team working at the Fuengirola drinking hole. After Monaghan's brutal gunshot killing, it emerged the career criminal also ran an online supermarket selling expats a taste from home as a successful sideline to the Costa del Sol pub where he was murdered.
He became a director of Costa Shop And Drop after fleeing to Spain following a botched hit attempt outside a Glasgow primary school. Monaghan, cornered inside his bar moments after 43-year-old Eddie Lyons Jnr was shot dead, started selling Walkers Crisps, Weetabix, Colman's Mustard, Pot Noodle snacks and even Irn-Bru with the catchy sales slogan: 'Craving Your Favourite British Food?'
The company, which stocks products at a Malaga warehouse, also markets toiletries and beauty products. It offers next-day delivery on all orders placed within the Costa del Sol, describing itself online as a 'new and exciting' service and boasting: 'Our prices are often lower than the market leading competitors.'
Monaghan, a senior member of the Lyons gang, was appointed sole director of the Spanish firm on February 8 2021. The mobster, who fled Scotland for Spain in 2017, was tried but acquitted over the murder of notorious Glasgow hood Kevin 'Gerbil' Carroll at an Asda car park in 2010.
In August 2017 he and Eddie Lyons Jr were cleared of being involved in a brutal street attack on three men outside the Campsie bar in Bishopbriggs, East Dunbartonshire. The Fuengirola pub murders just after the Champions League final finished followed the fatal shooting just over two months ago of a 32-year-old British man in nearby Calahonda a 15-minute drive from the Irish bar towards Marbella.
He was shot dead around 8pm on April 21 in a professional hit as he headed back to his car after finishing a football match with friends. The victim has not been named but was known to come from Liverpool.
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