A 45-year-old man accused of executing two notorious Glasgow gangsters inside a Spanish bar has been pictured for the first time as he awaits trial.
The Fuengirola Shooting
Michael Terrence Riley is alleged to have entered a bar in Fuengirola, Spain, on May 31, where Ross Monaghan, 43, and Eddie Lyons Jnr, 46, were watching the Champions League final. Riley is accused of shooting both men dead in a brazen attack that Spanish police have described as highly professional.
The two victims were key figures within the Lyons crime group, a Scottish organised crime syndicate based in the west of the country. This group has been embroiled in a violent and deadly feud with the rival Daniel clan for nearly twenty years.
International Manhunt and Arrest
Following the shooting, Riley fled Spain, triggering an international manhunt. He was subsequently arrested in Liverpool on June 13, just as he was allegedly preparing to flee his hideout for a paradise island tax haven with no extradition treaty.
Chief Superintendent Pedro Agudo Novo, the Spanish police chief leading the investigation, praised the killer's professionalism. He detailed how the assailant continued his mission even after his gun jammed, pursuing his second victim through the bar.
Riley initially contested his extradition to Spain. His legal representative, Renata Pinter, told Westminster Magistrates' Court in September that he suffered from depression and anxiety and would be in fear for his life from other gang members in a Spanish prison. However, he ultimately consented to his extradition on October 7.
Background of a Gangland Feud
The murders of Monaghan and Lyons Jnr are the latest violent episodes in a long-running gangland conflict across central Scotland. Since March, homes and businesses in both Glasgow and Edinburgh have been targeted by shootings and firebombings.
This feud has a deep and bloody history. In 2006, Michael Lyons, 21, was shot dead at a family-owned garage in north Glasgow. That attack is believed to have been ordered by Kevin Gerbil Carroll, a leading figure in the Daniel clan. Carroll was himself shot dead outside an Asda in Robroyston, Glasgow, in 2010. Ross Monaghan was acquitted of Carroll's murder.
In 2017, Monaghan was shot in the shoulder outside a Glasgow primary school, an incident that prompted his relocation to Spain. Police Scotland's Operation Portaledge, an initiative targeting this feud, has resulted in 62 arrests since November.
