An Ibiza party boss is climbing up the ranks of the Lyons mob while family boss Steven rots in a Spanish jail. Thomas Bilsland, 39, lives on the island for at least six months every year, mingling with high-profile DJs and supplying holidaymakers with 'party essentials.'
A source told the Record, Bilsland is now one of the senior members of the crime family after the arrests of kingpin Steven Lyons and 15 of his cronies earlier this year.
Switching sides from the Daniel clan
Bilsland was once a member of the rival Daniel clan and was attacked with blades by four masked Lyons enforcers in 2017. However, the gangland insider revealed the hood understood the power dynamic was shifting in Glasgow's underworld and abandoned his old crew.
He said: "Thomas Bilsland was public enemy number one with the Lyons not so long ago, but it is all about business at the end of the day and he is a good earner. When he was with the Daniel mob they still had a lot of influence on the street and he watched that gradually declining. He didn't feel like he was properly backed up after he was attacked either so was ready to jump ship."
Rise through the ranks
"About five years ago, he started hanging around Marbella and became friendly with some of the criminal expats over there who were close to Lyons' top boy Ross Monaghan. Gradually, he struck up a close friendship with Ross, and was then introduced to Steven Lyons."
"Bilsland basically lives over in Ibiza for a good part of the year and rakes in an absolute packet on the party circuit so he was happily welcomed into the fold. He started visiting Steven in Dubai regularly and earned his trust and is now part of his inner circle. Steven even invited him over to the desert to bring in the new year with him and his family last year."
"Ross Monaghan and Eddie Lyons being murdered in Spain and the arrests this year left the Lyons short on men and enabled Bilsland to move swiftly up the hierarchy."
Life in Ibiza
Bilsland regularly shares pictures on his Instagram showing him mixing with celebrities as he lives a life of luxury on the Balearic Island. He also offers party services to holidaymakers and promises his pal will deliver his goods straight to people's hotels.
One post reads: "DM me for my menu. I will send my WhatsApp even if you don't know me, don't be shy. I've got everything for your parties in Ibiza. Big orders and I do a really good deal."
Bilsland has shared a number of pictures of him posing alongside reality TV stars, actors and big-name DJs. He has made an entirely new life for himself in Ibiza following the attack in Glasgow in 2017.
Past attack and gang feud
He described in court how he was walking near his mum's house in Cranhill and was jumped from behind and set about by three or four thugs armed with a hatchet, blades and a hammer. He escaped to a nearby kebab takeaway and was rushed to hospital with a fractured skull and stab wounds.
The attack was part of a coordinated campaign aimed at wiping out the Daniel clan over a 15-month period between 2016 and 2017. Gary Petty, Robert Daniel, Ryan Fitzsimmons and Steven 'Bonzo' Daniel were also targeted by the gang during this time. Bonzo required facial reconstruction surgery after he was hacked with machetes following a car chase through the streets of Glasgow.
Lyons enforcers, Peter Bain, Brian Ferguson, Andrew Gallacher, John Hardie, Robert Pickett, and Andrew Sinclair, were jailed for a total of 104 years in 2019 for their roles in the violence.
Recent arrests
The 25-year feud between the Lyons and Daniel gang seemed to grind to a halt after the gang were locked up but it exploded last year. Drugs lord Ross McGill declared war on Edinburgh kingpin Mark Richardson over a £500,000 consignment of cocaine. A campaign of firebombings and machete attacks followed and the Daniel family were also attacked due to their association with Richardson. The Lyons gang entered the fray to fight against their old enemies from the north of Glasgow.
However, Steven Lyons and McGill were arrested and booted out of their base in Dubai as authorities in the UAE grew tired at the headlines the gang war in Scotland was generating. The mob boss flitted between Gulf states before he was detained at Bali Airport in March on a European Arrest Warrant, issued by Spain's Guardia Civil. He is now in a Spanish jail awaiting trial for a number of organised crime charges and is also under investigation for his alleged involvement in a murder in Spain.
Between March and April, 15 people were arrested across Scotland, Spain, Indonesia, and the United Arab Emirates as part of the Operation Armorum investigation aimed at dismantling the Lyons gang. Bilsland blocked the Daily Record when we contacted him for comment.
