7 days ago
Spain bar shootings: Who was Glasgow man Ross Monaghan?
It was inevitable that, as the Lyons family climbed the ladder of organised crime, Monaghan would become a key lieutenant, his relationship with Eddie and Steven said to be 'like that of brothers'.
However, while most involved in such high level crime operate under the radar, Monaghan, who grew up just outside Glasgow, found his name in the headlines after he was arrested his late 20s over one of Scotland's most notorious gangland slayings.
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(Image: Kevin Carroll) In January 2010, Kevin 'Gerbil' Carroll, a feared enforcer for the rival Daniel clan, attended a meeting with associates in the carpark of the Asda superstore in Robroyston, Glasgow.
There, he met drug dealer Stephen Glen, who was linked to the Lyons family and, a court later heard, Carroll told him: 'You're working for me now. Anybody that doesn't fall into line is going to get banged.'
The Gerbil was then sitting in the back of a black Audi A3 in the supermarket carpark when a Volkswagen Golf swerved to a halt in front of the vehicle as horrified shoppers looked on.
Two masked men emerged from the Golf and opened fire, through the passenger windows, with Carroll shot 13 times in the head and chest in an attack that lasted 25 seconds.
Despite the murder being one of the most audacious and outrageous gangland hits ever carried out in Scotland, the police initially met with a wall of silence.
But eight months after the shooting, 2010 Monaghan was arrested. His partner would give birth to their daughter just 10 days later.
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(Image: Ross Monaghan)
Monaghan spent six months on remand in Glasgow's HMP Barlinnie charged with Carroll's murder and, such was the was the escalation in hostilities even then, detectives visited the prison to issue him with a threat to life warning.
The so-called Osman Warnings, named after a London shooting victim, are only issued when police intelligence suggests an individual faces a credible threat to their life.
The murder trial followed, only for Monaghan to be sensationally acquitted in May 2012 after a judge ruled 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.'
(Image: Billy Paterson Police Scotland) Another Lyons clan associate, Billy Paterson, 45, was convicted of the killing in 2015 and sentenced to 22 years in prison.
(Image: Police after Penilee shooting on Ross Monaghan)
(Image: Police after Penilee shooting on Ross Monaghan)
(Image: Police after Penilee shooting on Ross Monaghan)
(Image: Forensic officers after Penilee shooting on Ross Monaghan)
Two years after that, 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 in Penilee.
Monaghan, then 35, was discharged from hospital after treatment for a shoulder wound.
Police spoke of their disgust at the shooting being carried out next to a busy nursery and two associates of the Daniel clan were charged. Both would be cleared of the attack at a trial but were later convicted for other organised crime offences.
Monaghan, 43, is believed to have moved to Spain a couple of years after the school shooting, and is understood to have become involved in business interests in the Costa del Sol, including the pub on the beachfront bearing his name. It would be the location where, alongside decades-long friend Eddie Lyons jnr, he would meet a merciless end on Saturday night.
