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Edinburgh Live
11-08-2025
- Sport
- Edinburgh Live
Gangster Ross McGill's promising athletic past long before Edinburgh gang wars
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info Gangster Ross McGill is now known to many as the Dubai-based crime lord Mr Big, but things could've turned out very differently. He first came to public attention as a promising young athlete, and began collecting sprinting medals at 15-years-old. In 2010, he claimed a bronze in the under 17's 60 metre race at Kelvin Hall in Glasgow. The following year, he came first in the New Years Day meeting in Musselburgh - winning the 60m handicap race. The following month in the under 20s men's event he smashed the club's 60 metre record beating the best in Scotland in the process, reports the Daily Record. By this time he had been called into a training group for the Scottish Athletics team coached by Olympian Brian Whittle, now Tory MSP. He was picked to represent his country in the Celtic games in Antrim in Northern Ireland in August 2011 and came second in the 100 metres. McGill also set a highly impressive personal best time of just over 11 seconds. But it was his one and only appearance. Despite the prospect of a promising and lucrative athletics career he seemed to disappear off the radar. But McGill was embarking on another race - to the top of the criminal ladder. While he enjoyed some success as a runner he obviously believed that greater success, power and riches were to be found elsewhere. At the age of 14 in 2008 the keen Rangers fan had joined the Union Bears, an emerging Rangers fans ultra group. By 2021 he was its leader or Capo with access all areas at Ibrox and had been photographed with Rangers captain James Tavernier and then manager Steven Gerard. Nobody at Ibrox suspected there was anything wrong with this outwardly pleasant and articulate individual. In September that year he unexpectedly resigned his position as leader and appeared to have disappeared off the radar for a second time. However he was about to go down a third route that would bring him even great notoriety. In early March this year a series of attacks on members and associates of the Daniel crime family both in Edinburgh and Glasgow began, which to this day has resulted in more than 50 police arrests. The attacks would continue into June and involved daytime assaults with machetes and firebombings of people's homes and commercial property. Sign up for Edinburgh Live newsletters for more headlines straight to your inbox At that time the Daniel's had been in a long running feud with another Glasgow crime family the Lyons. It appeared that associates of Edinburgh cocaine baron Mark Richardson - a Daniel ally - had in turn duped a Lyons associate by paying for a £500,000 drugs deal with fake notes. It had echoes of a previous incident almost 25 years ago. In this instance the Lyons were alleged to have stolen £20,000 worth of coke from a Daniel safe house in Milton, Glasgow. The man said to be orchestrating the violence was none other than Ross McGill, now holed up in Dubai and the alleged victim of the fake cash scam. A group of highly motivated young men going under the name Tamo Junto were carrying out the attacks in Scotland, allegedly under under McGill's orders, posting videos of the violence including burning properties. The footage also carried warnings of further attacks against the Daniel's and their associates. The Richardson crew had made the mistake of thinking he was a nobody and easy prey - but nothing could have been further from the truth. In reality the 31 year old he had been on a police watch list for several years over claims he was involved in drug dealing and serious and organised crime. As a result he he fled the UK fearing he would be arrested after French cops cracked an encrypted criminals phone network EncroChat. That had been the means by which gangs across the world could previously contact each other, do business, and leave messages without being caught. Now Police Scotland had a haul of incriminating information that was already bringing down a large number of organised crime groups. McGill, who was known by the nickname Miami, had initially fled to Malaga in Spain before moving to Dubai where he resurfaced as an aspiring crimelord. To this day it is not clear how McGill made the transformation from promising athlete, to fans leader to international crime figure. It was however clear he had made contacts with some of Scotland's most powerful underworld figures but how? One suggestion is that he developed links with key figures following Rangers - both at home and abroad - providing an excellent cover for any clandestine meetings. It's also been claimed McGill was introduced to the highest levels of criminal networks by by another Glasgow organised crime figure 47 year old James White - known as the Don. He had previously been the right hand man of two drug dealing brothers James and Barry Gillespie from Rutherglen near Glasgow. The Gillespie's had been exposed for the first time in 2019 by our sister paper the Sunday Mail as Scotland's two most powerful crime figures. By then they had relocated to the town of Fortaleza in Brazil with White but went missing around 2019 and are now thought to have been murdered. White was extradited back to Scotland in 2022 from Brazil to stand trial at the High Court in Glasgow where he was sentenced in 2023 to nine years and ten months for his involvement in serious and organised crime. McGill is also a close pal of ex-Union Bears Lloyd Cross, 33, now serving a six year prison stretch for his role in a £100million racket smuggling cocaine in banana boxes. The man said to have masterminded that particular operation was gangland Mr Big Jamie 'Iceman' Stevenson who is serving a sentence of 16 years and three months for his role. It's also been claimed that McGill's rise rapid rise has been boosted by support from gang chiefs Steven Lyons, 44, and the late Ross Monaghan, 43, who was shot dead at his bar in Fuengirola in Spain along with close friend and associate Eddie Lyons jnr in May. Join Edinburgh Live's Whatsapp Community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages With White and others in prison and the Gillespies missing presumed dead, it's been claimed that Ross McGill now oversees drug routes from South America previously established by others. In turn fast-tracking his rise to the top of the criminal tree. However people we have spoken to suggest that McGill like other criminals before him is merely filling the vacuum that normally opens when major crime figures are behind bars. In a recent interview for Criminal Record Graeme Pearson, former Director General of the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement said: "You have the new first division coming through who are saying these old guys are in the jail, we don't need to bother with them, we'll do our own thing and that creates the violence we now witness." One source said: "People think he must be backed by someone bigger, but McGill is very much his own man and used to running his own organisation. "The Union Bears is a good example of that." As things stand at present McGill appears to be stuck in Dubai as he faces arrest if he returns to the UK. At present there is no extradition treaty between the UK and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) but that could change in the future. There have been suggestions that McGill - and other Scottish underworld figures based there - could try to get UAE citizenship to avoid being sent back to Britain. One police source told the Daily Record: "At the end of the day McGill can run but he can't hide. "But you have to remember that McGill used to be good at running."
Daily Record
11-08-2025
- Sport
- Daily Record
Gangster Ross McGill's life on the run from - from promising athlete to Mr Big
The Daily Record tells how Ross McGill went from a promising teenage athlete to international crime boss in the space of a few years It was an obscure race meeting in front of only a few spectators in the tiny town of Alva near Stirling in July 2009 when 15 year old runner Ross McGill first came to public attention. As a promising sprinter with the Renfrewshire athletics club Kilbarchan Harriers the youngster from East Kilbride in Lanarkshire came third in a 70 metre race. Six months later in early January 2010 he claimed another bronze in an under 17's 60 metres with a time of 7.4 seconds at the Kelvin Hall in Glasgow. McGill's big breakthrough came in 2011 when he came first in the New Years Day meeting in Musselburgh when he won the 60m handicap race and finished second in the 90m. The following month in the under 20s men's event he smashed the club's 60 metre record beating the best in Scotland in the process. By this time he had been called into a training group for the Scottish Athletics team coached by Olympian Brian Whittle, now Tory MSP . He was picked to represent his country in the Celtic games in Antrim in Northern Ireland in August 2011 and came second in the 100 metres. McGill also set a highly impressive personal best time of just over 11 seconds. But it was his one and only appearance. Despite the prospect of a promising and lucrative athletics career he seemed to disappear off the radar. But McGill was embarking on another race - to the top of the criminal ladder. While he enjoyed some success as a runner he obviously believed that greater success, power and riches were to be found elsewhere. At the age of 14 in 2008 the keen Rangers fan had joined the Union Bears. an emerging Rangers fans ultra group. By 2021 he was its leader or Capo with access all areas at Ibrox and had been photographed with Rangers captain James Tavernier and then manager Steven Gerard. Nobody at Ibrox suspected there was anything wrong with this outwardly pleasant and articulate individual. In September that year he unexpectedly resigned his position as leader and appeared to have disappeared off the radar for a second time. However he was about to go down a third route that would bring him even great notoriety. In early March this year a series of attacks on members and associates of the Daniel crime family both in Edinburgh and Glasgow began, which to this day has resulted in more than 50 police arrests. The attacks would continue into June and involved daytime assaults with machetes and firebombings of people's homes and commercial property. At that time the Daniel's had been in a long running feud with another Glasgow crime family the Lyons. It appeared that associates of Edinburgh cocaine baron Mark Richardson - a Daniel ally - had in turn duped a Lyons associate by paying for a £500,000 drugs deal with fake notes. It had echoes of a previous incident almost 25 years ago. In this instance the Lyons were alleged to have stolen £20,000 worth of coke from a Daniel safe house in Milton, Glasgow. The man said to be orchestrating the violence was none other than Ross McGill, now holed up in Dubai and the alleged victim of the fake cash scam. A group of highly motivated young men going under the name Tamo Junto were carrying out the attacks in Scotland, allegedly under under McGill's orders, posting videos of the violence including burning properties. The footage also carried warnings of further attacks against the Daniel's and their associates. The Richardson crew had made the mistake of thinking he was a nobody and easy prey - but nothing could have been further from the truth. In reality the 31 year old he had been on a police watch list for several years over claims he was involved in drug dealing and serious and organised crime. As a result he he fled the UK fearing he would be arrested after French cops cracked an encrypted criminals phone network EncroChat. That had been the means by which gangs across the world could previously contact each other, do business, and leave messages without being caught. Now Police Scotland had a haul of incriminating information that was already bringing down a large number of organised crime groups. McGill, who was known by the nickname Miami, had initially fled to Malaga in Spain before moving to Dubai where he resurfaced as an aspiring crimelord. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. To this day it is not clear how McGill made the transformation from promising athlete, to fans leader to international crime figure. It was however clear he had made contacts with some of Scotland's most powerful underworld figures but how? One suggestion is that he developed links with key figures following Rangers - both at home and abroad - providing an excellent cover for any clandestine meetings. It's also been claimed McGill was introduced to the highest levels of criminal networks by by another Glasgow organised crime figure 47 year old James White - known as the Don. He had previously been the right hand man of two drug dealing brothers James and Barry Gillespie from Rutherglen near Glasgow. The Gillespie's had been exposed for the first time in 2019 by our sister paper the Sunday Mail as Scotland's two most powerful crime figures. By then they had relocated to the town of Fortaleza in Brazil with White but went missing around 2019 and are now thought to have been murdered. White was extradited back to Scotland in 2022 from Brazil to stand trial at the High Court in Glasgow where he was sentenced in 2023 to nine years and ten months for his involvement in serious and organised crime. McGill is also a close pal of ex-Union Bears Lloyd Cross, 33, now serving a six year prison stretch for his role in a £100million racket smuggling cocaine in banana boxes. The man said to have masterminded that particular operation was gangland Mr Big Jamie "Iceman" Stevenson who is serving a sentence of 16 years and three months for his role. It's also been claimed that McGill's rise rapid rise has been boosted by support from gang chiefs Steven Lyons, 44, and the late Ross Monaghan, 43, who was shot dead at his bar in Fuengirola in Spain alongwith close friend and associate Eddie Lyons jnr in May. With White and others in prison and the Gillespies missing presumed dead, it's been claimed that Ross McGill now oversees drug routes from South America previously established by others. In turn fast-tracking his rise to the top of the criminal tree. However people we have spoken to suggest that McGill like other criminals before him is merely filling the vacuum that normally opens when major crime figures are behind bars. In a recent interview for Criminal Record Graeme Pearson, former Director General of the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement said:"You have the new first division coming through who are saying these old guys are in the jail, we don't need to bother with them, we'll do our own thing and that creates the violence we now witness." One source said: "People think he must be backed by someone bigger, but McGill is very much his own man and used to running his own organisation. "The Union Bears is a good example of that." As things stand at present McGill appears to be stuck in Dubai as he faces arrest if he returns to the UK. At present there is no extradition treaty between the UK and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) but that could change in the future. There have been suggestions that McGill - and other Scottish underworld figures based there - could try to get UAE citizenship to avoid being sent back to Britain. One police source told the Daily Record:"At the end of the day McGill can run but he can't hide. "But you have to remember that McGill used to be good at running."
Daily Mail
23-06-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE I moved to a town where EVERYONE talks to the dead. Anyone can learn how to contact their loved ones
On New Year's Day, 2018, Tiffany Hopkins left her home in Brooklyn and drove 12 hours through a winter storm to the tiny New York hamlet of Lily Dale. Beside her was Nika, her red, chicken-hunting Husky - rescued from doggy death row - and, packed into a U-Haul truck, all her earthly belongings.
RNZ News
22-06-2025
- RNZ News
50 police employees snooped into file of slain cop Lyn Fleming
By Jeremy Wilkinson, Open Justice multimedia journalist of Tributes to slain police officer Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming outside the Nelson police station after she was struck by a motor vehicle in the early hours of New Year's Day 2025. Photo: NZ Police / RNZ An internal police investigation has revealed 50 employees snooped into the file relating to the death of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming without good reason. Fleming died after she and fellow officer Adam Ramsay were struck by a vehicle while on foot patrol in the early hours of the morning on New Year's Day in Nelson. The 62-year-old succumbed to her injuries in the hospital that day, surrounded by her family and Ramsay suffered serious injuries. Fleming was the first policewoman to be killed in the line of duty in New Zealand. She was also the first police officer to be killed while on duty in Nelson. A 32-year-old man charged with offences linked to Fleming's death pleaded not guilty to murder and attempted murder earlier this year. His interim name suppression is still in place and he's due to appear again in August. Weeks after Fleming's death, police launched an internal investigation into alleged misuse of an intelligence database called the National Intelligence Application (NIA), which holds sensitive information about incidents and offending, as well as information about the public. Police employees, including civilian staff, have access to the database, but their use is tracked and audited and they must have a valid work reason for accessing anything within the system. Following an audit in January, a memo was sent to staff by the Deputy Commissioner of frontline operations Tania Kura, noting that a number of employees had checked the file relating to Fleming's death, but it had no connection to their duties. "Alarmingly, and disrespectfully, we have found people randomly checking the files on the devastating incident in Nelson," the memo read. "Unauthorised use of NIA will not be tolerated and final decisions on any sanctions for staff will be decided by a dedicated team." An Official Information Act request released to NZME confirmed there have been a total of 76 instances of misuse of NIA in 2025. A total of 116 police employees were investigated as part of the internal audit and 76 staff were found to have a legitimate reason for accessing the file. The funeral for Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming was held at the Trafalgar Centre in Nelson in January. Photo: RNZ / Anthony Phelps A spokesperson for police said the 50 staff who had misused the system in relation to Fleming's case had accessed both the event file, which holds a running log of information related to an open case, as well as the file for the alleged offender. "The audit provided an opportunity to remind all staff that NIA searches must be for appropriate reasons," the spokesperson said. All 50 staff members who accessed the file improperly were issued warnings. New Zealand Police Association president Chris Cahill said the numbers were a little bit surprising, but not concerning. "From my understanding, most people were looking to see if they could identify the officer because they were concerned it was someone they knew," he said. Cahill said it was possible there had been a similar spike after the death of Auckland police officer Matthew Hunt. "If we look at this nationally, it's not that bad considering how many NIA checks are done every year, hundreds of thousands a year, only to see 60 or so that are seen as inappropriate," he said. "It shows that things are pretty tight." Cahill said that a warning was far from a slap on the wrist and was actually quite serious. "It could be the step before dismissal in some cases." It is possible for police employees to be criminally charged for misusing NIA. An example is Kayla Watson, who was sentenced to 80 hours of community work after taking photos of files in the system and posting them into a Facebook chat with her friend. However, few police employees are criminally charged for breaching the terms of use of the database. For context, there were a total of 79 misuses in 2023, of which only one resulted in a criminal charge. The bulk of the rest resulted in a warning or performance action. In 2024, there were 65 misuses of NIA, again with the majority being resolved in a similar manner. Of the 220 alleged misuses of the application in the last three years, 54 incidents are still being investigated. -This story originally appeared in the New Zealand Herald .
Telegraph
18-06-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
Championship to flood Boxing Day and New Year's Day in Premier League absence
The English Football League will stage a full programme of Boxing Day fixtures after the Premier League scrapped the long-held tradition. Telegraph Sport has been told the EFL will do the same on New Year's Day, which has also been left clear for now by the world's richest league. All 72 EFL fixtures across both days will be televised live for the second successive season. There are likely to be some Premier League fixtures on Boxing Day and New Year's Day once Sky Sports and TNT Sports make their broadcast selections for match rounds currently scheduled for Saturday, December 27 and Tuesday, December 30. And while the scrapping of the Boxing Day round of games will rankle with some traditionalists, it may be welcomed by many match-going fans given most trains do not run on that day. Tom Greatrex, the chair of the Football Supporters' Association, told Telegraph Sport: 'With the increasingly rare ability to use any sort of public transport on Boxing Day – there are very few trains – in many ways the 27th is probably better. 'Although it's obviously long been a traditional day where there have been fixtures, I'm not sure necessarily there'll be the same level of concern about that given how difficult it's been to get to Boxing Day fixtures frequently.' Greatrex said the FSA members had been more upset about the likes of Tottenham Hotspur vs Newcastle United, and the reverse fixture between the teams, being scheduled in a midweek match round. When is EFL fixture release day? The Championship will release their fixtures on Thursday June 26 alongside League One and Two at noon. League One and Two get under way over the weekend beginning August 1. The Championship will start a week later on August 8-10. The EFL will also announce the draw for the first round of the Carabao Cup at 2.30pm after the announcement of the fixtures and the groups for the Vertu Trophy at 4.40pm. EFL key dates 2025/26 Fixture release date: Thursday 26 June 2025 at 12.00pm EFL Opening Weekends League One and League Two: Friday 1 August – Sunday 3 August Championship: Friday 8 August – Sunday 10 August Final games of the regular season May 2-3 2026. Carabao Cup Round One Draw – Thursday 26 June 2025 Round One – Weekend 11 August 2025 Final – Sunday 22 March 2026 Vertu Trophy Group Stage Draw – Thursday 26 June 2025 Matchday One – Weekend September 1 2025 Final – Sunday 12 April 2026 Play-offs Championship Play-Off Final – Saturday 23 May 2026 League One Play-Off Final – Sunday 24 May 2026 League Two Play-Off Final – Monday 25 May 2026
