Spain bar shooting: Who were Ross Monaghan and Eddie Lyons Jnr?

BBC News

4 days ago

Two men shot dead at a bar in Spain on Saturday were among Scotland's most high profile underworld figures.Ross Monaghan, 43, and Eddie Lyons Jnr, 46 - both major players in the Lyons crime clan - were killed at Monaghans Bar in Fuengirola, Andalucia.They have been involved in a bloody rivalry with the Daniel group dating back more than 20 years, which was the focus of a recent BBC Gangster podcastSince March, both gangs have been linked to what's thought to be a fresh feud with a series of assaults, shootings and firebombings across Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Spanish detectives have yet to confirm if the double murder on the Costa del Sol is connected to the recent violence, which has resulted in more than 30 arrests.But the shooting at Monaghans Bar is the most significant gangland development since Kevin "Gerbil" Carroll was shot dead in an Asda car park in 2010.
Ross Monaghan
Monaghan first hit the headlines when he was arrested as a suspect for the supermarket shooting.At the time Carroll, 29, had been responsible for a series of so-called "alien abductions" across central Scotland.The kidnappings were described in such a way as the victims, who were tortured and robbed, told police they couldn't remember anything about their ordeal.On 13 January 2010, Carroll attended a lunchtime business meeting at Asda in Robroyston, Glasgow.The enforcer met drug pusher Stephen Glen, who was linked to the Lyons family.A trial later heard Carroll told him: "You're working for me now. Anybody that doesn't fall into line is going to get banged."But minutes after delivering the ultimatum, he was sitting in the back of a black Audi A3 when a speeding Volkswagen Golf screeched to a halt in front of the vehicle.Carroll's two associates fled leaving him trapped in the back of the three-door car.Two masked men emerged from the Golf and opened fire, shattering the rear passenger windows.Carroll was shot in the head and chest - 13 times in total - in an attack that lasted 25 seconds.Despite being arguably the most public gangland hit ever carried out in Scotland the Police Scotland investigation was initially met with a wall of silence.But in August 2010 Monaghan was arrested, just 10 days before his partner gave birth to their daughter.He spent six months on remand only to be acquitted of the murder in May 2012 after a judge ruled that there was insufficient evidence to convict him.At the time Monaghan said: "It's been a nightmare. I'm glad to get this over."I've always said it was nothing to do with me."Less than five years later Monaghan was shot in the shoulder outside a Glasgow primary school after dropping his child off.The gunman was pushing a child's buggy when he opened fire on Muirdykes Road near St George's Primary, Penilee.Two associates of the Daniel clan were both cleared of the attack at a trial but were later convicted for other organised crime offences.Monaghan is believed to have moved to Spain soon after the school shooting.It has been reported that he owned the Costa del Sol bar, bearing his name, where he was killed.
Eddie Lyons Jnr
Eddie Lyons Jnr survived a previous attempt on his life 18 years ago when he was ambushed by Kevin Carroll in Bellshill, Lanarkshire.It followed an incident which was widely credited with taking the rivalry with the Daniel to another level.In November 2006 Carroll allegedly used a 4x4 and a tow rope to topple the headstone of Eddie Jnr's brother, Garry, who was only eight when he died of leukaemia in 1991.The desecration of his grave marked a new low.The following month two men in a blue Mazda pulled up outside a garage in Lambhill, in the north of Glasgow.Raymond Anderson and James McDonald put on old man face masks then walked into Applerow Motors, off the busy Balmore Road, and opened fire.The owner, David Lyons, took cover but his 21-year-old nephew Michael - Eddie Jnr's cousin - was shot dead.Another cousin, Steven Lyons, was injured along with his associate Robert Pickett.The hitmen were enforcers for the Daniel crime clan, believed to have been led by the late Jamie Daniel.Four years later Eddie's father ended up in the dock after he admitted racking up more than £250,000 in mortgage frauds by giving lenders fake income details.Glasgow Sheriff Court heard he bought property in East Kilbride and Cumbernauld by self-certifying on mortgage applications.Eddie Jnr and Monaghan later appeared before the same court but were cleared of a vicious street attack on three men outside a bar in East Dunbartonshire which took place in April 2016.But the trial collapsed when two of the alleged victims said they had no memory of what had happened to them. The pair remained close friends and had been watched the Champions League final in the bar on Saturday night before they were shot dead at close range.