A car has been torched at a garage linked to the Daniel crime clan amid a new wave of chaos connected to Scotland's reignited gang-war. Emergency services were called to Kelvinside Motor Company on Milton Road in Kirkintilloch after the vehicle was firebombed shortly before 11pm on Saturday, August 22.
Daniels kingpin Francis 'Fraggle' Green is listed as a former director of the garage at Kirkintilloch Industrial Estate, which has now been targeted twice in the space of a week. It is understood a group of thugs wielding machetes turned up at the garage in a previous attack on Tuesday.
Police treat fire as wilful
A burnt-out hatchback car was seen outside the garage on Sunday morning. No one was injured as a result of the fire, which is being treated as wilful by police.
Detectives are keeping an open mind as to whether the blaze is linked to Operation Portaledge - Police Scotland's dedicated investigation into gangland activity across the central belt. The garage was also targeted in a deliberate fireraising incident in April last year as the gang-war exploded across the country.
Reignited violence after claims of end to feud
The attack came just over 24 hours after a car was smashed into a home in East Renfrewshire. A large police cordon was erected on Low Borland Way near Eaglesham following the incident, which took place at around 1.40pm on Friday, August 21.
The property - which is understood to be linked to 45-year-old gangster Billy Steele - has now been fenced off as police seek to trace those involved. No one has yet been arrested, and officers are not ruling out links to Operation Portaledge.
It comes as fresh attacks were ordered by bosses of the notorious Lyons crime clan against members of their rivals, the Daniel family. Senior members of the Lyons gang are believed to have instructed Ross McGill's Tamo Junto (TMJ) to launch the revenge attacks after the slaying of Eddie Lyons Jnr and Ross Monaghan in the Costa Del Sol last year.
TMJ gang targets homes in Maryhill and Stepps
One attack took place on the city's Curzon Street during the early hours of Friday morning before the hoods are believed to have travelled to Honeywell Drive in Stepps. Sources told the Record the TMJ footsoldiers ripped into the first property in Glasgow's Maryhill before trashing the home in their pursuit for Ronnie Daniel, 41.
The TMJ gang then travelled to Stepps in an attempt to target Robert Daniel, 51, but he managed to flee the scene. A source told the Record: "A gang wearing balaclavas and carrying machetes kicked in the door of a house last night looking for Ronnie."
"They ripped the place apart and trashed the house and a heavy police presence has been on the scene ever since. The Lyons and TMJ gang are desperate to claim a serious scalp and Robert was then chased near his home last night by the same gang."
"Things have escalated again and the word on the street is this is the Lyons now trying to get revenge for what happened to Ross Monaghan and Eddie Lyons last year."
Background to the gang war
Ross Monaghan and Eddie Lyons Jnr were shot and killed in a targeted execution at Monaghans Bar in Fuengirola on May 31 last year. The double murder marked one of the most violent episodes during the gang war, which exploded in Scotland last year after crime kingpin Mark Richardson's cronies ripped off Ross McGill with fake notes in a botched £500,000 cocaine deal.
Violence has now reignited just weeks after Police Scotland claimed the gang war had come to an end. The force said the feud had concluded after a "resolution of differences" between those involved. Operation Portaledge, which was launched in response to the gang warfare, has attended 84 separate incidents and resulted in 64 arrests.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "Around 10.55pm on Saturday, August 22, we received a report of a vehicle on fire outside a premises in Milton Road, Kirkintilloch. Officers attended and there were no reports of any injuries. The fire is being treated as wilful and enquiries are ongoing."
