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Costa Del Sol ‘hitman' accused of shooting Scots gangsters in Spain appears in court
Michael Riley, 44, of Merseyside, appeared via a video link from Wandsworth prison
'GUNMAN' IN COURT Costa Del Sol 'hitman' accused of shooting Scots gangsters in Spain appears in court
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AN ALLEGED hitman facing extradition to Spain in connection with the murders of Ross Monaghan and Eddie Lyons Jnr has appeared in court.
Michael Riley, 44, of Merseyside, appeared via a video link from Wandsworth prison at Westminster Magistrates Court this morning - six days after he was arrested in Liverpool.
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Eddie Lyons Jnr, left, and Ross Monaghan died in Fuengirlosa on Mat 31
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CCTV footage captured the incident at Monaghan's Irish Bar
Spanish authorities have applied for the suspect to be shipped out of the UK as part of their ongoing probe into the double murder in Fuengirola.
During a brief hearing that lasted around two minutes, Judge Bristow adjourned the matter for Riley to appear in person tomorrow due to the serious nature of the charges he faces.
We told how the Lyons gang kingpins were drinking in Monaghan's Bar after watching the Champions League Cup final on May 31 when they were gunned down.
A hooded assassin was captured on CCTV storming the boozer and shooting both men dead in front of horrified holiday makers and staff.
Spanish cops launched a probe into the massacre that resulted in a suspect being identified and arrested on Friday, June 13.
Riley initially appeared in court the following day and was remanded in custody after having been deemed a 'flight risk' by prosecutors.
He returned to the dock today for a hearing that could see him extradited to Spain to face two murder charges.
We told how cops in Spain and Scotland gave conflicting information over who is believed to have ordered the double assassination.
Police Scotland first insisted three days after the slaughter they had 'no intelligence' to suggest the murders were connected to an ongoing turf war here.
However, at a sensational press conference in Malaga this week their Spain counterparts said the man they want extradited over the killings was 'an internal member of the rival Daniel gang'.
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Malaga-based police chief Pedro Agudo Novo told reporters: "The double murder was carried out by a professional killer and member of one of the victims' rival gangs.
"In this case we're not talking about an independently hired killer but an internal member of the rival Daniel gang who ends up assassinating two members of an enemy gang."
That prompted the Scottish force to repeat their insistence there is no Daniel link to the slayings - a position also held by members of Monaghan's family.
A relative of the murdered mob boss said earlier this month: 'The one thing people need to know is the Daniels are not behind this.'
Assistant Chief Constable Stuart Houston said: "We are not aware of any current evidence which suggests the deaths of these two men in Spain are linked to criminal attacks in Scotland being investigated as part of Operation Portaledge.'
Career criminal Monaghan – who fled Scotland for Spain after a failed attempt on his life 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, both members of the Lyons Glasgow crime family, were cleared of being involved in a brutal street attack on three men outside the Campsie bar in Bishopbriggs, East Dunbartonshire.
Their deaths come amid an ongoing turf war in Scotland that's resulted in 48 arrests as part of Police Scotland's Operation Portaledge.
The gangland carnage in Edinburgh and Glasgow began in March amid claims Dubai-based hood Ross 'Miami' McGill, 31, of East Kilbride sought revenge after blaming associates of caged capital kingpin Mark Richardson, 38, for using fake notes in a dodgy £500,000 cocaine deal.
