A series of brutal attacks on members of the Daniel crime clan over a 48-hour period has reignited Scotland's long-running gang war, marking an apparent resurgence of the feud with the rival Lyons family.
In the last five days, Scotland has seen a dramatic resurgence in violence linked to the long-running feud between the Glasgow crime families, the Lyons and the Daniels. This comes despite assurances from Police Scotland Chief Constable Jo Farrell in June that the violence had been brought under control due to a major police investigation, codenamed Operation Portaledge, and what appeared to be a truce between the warring factions.
Series of attacks across Glasgow
The violence dramatically reignited in the early hours of Friday morning with a series of attacks. The first took place in Curzon Street in Glasgow's Maryhill, followed by a second in Honeywell Drive, Stepps, on the other side of the city. The two targets are understood to be Ronnie Daniel, 41, and Robert Daniel, 51, both senior members of the Daniel crime family.
Masked men wielding machetes broke into the Maryhill property looking for Ronnie before trashing it. The gang then travelled to Stepps looking for Robert, but he managed to escape. Neither of the two Daniels are believed to have been injured.
Both men are thought to be nephews of family boss Jamie Daniel, who died ten years ago. Robert Daniel is also a cousin of Steven "Bonzo" Daniel, a senior family member who was seriously disfigured in a machete attack nine years ago. Ronnie Daniel is one of two members of the crime clan called Ronnie. The other is the brother of the late Jamie Daniel. Less is known about him, but he is reported to have been threatened with a shotgun by a member of the Lyons family in 2021.
Further incidents and suspected motive
There was a third incident at a house in the village of Eaglesham, East Renfrewshire, on Friday afternoon, where a vehicle was driven into the building causing structural damage. It was followed by a fourth at the premises of Kelvinside Motor Company in Kirkintilloch, East Dunbartonshire, on Saturday night, when a car parked outside was set on fire. The fire attack followed a "disturbance" at the same property days earlier. The garage was previously targeted in a fire attack in April last year, which police investigated as part of its Operation Portaledge probe.
The attacks on the two Daniel family members are said to have been carried out by a shadowy group linked to the Lyons called Tamo Junto, as revenge for the double murder in May last year of Eddie Lyons Jnr and senior Lyons gang member Ross Monaghan. Both men were shot dead in front of customers at a bar run by Monaghan in the Spanish resort of Fuengirola. The long-running feud had reignited in March last year and led to a series of fire bombings and attempted murders in Edinburgh and Glasgow, 84 separate incidents in total.
The violence has been linked to a fallout between Lyons associate Ross McGill, the former head of Rangers FC's fan group the Union Bears, and Edinburgh drug dealer and Daniel associate Mark Richardson. Lyons associate McGill is believed to have been ripped off when a £500,000 consignment of cocaine was allegedly paid for with fake money by a Richardson associate.
Background and response
The head of the Lyons family, Steven Lyons, Eddie Lyons Jnr's brother, is currently in a Spanish prison awaiting trial on money laundering charges. The current whereabouts of Ross McGill are unknown.
Operation Portaledge, launched in response to the gang warfare, has resulted in 64 arrests and a number of criminals receiving lengthy prison sentences. Police Scotland say they are keeping an open mind over links to Operation Portaledge following the four weekend incidents.
The Lyons and Daniel feud dates back more than 25 years and centres around claims that members of the Lyons gang stole £20,000 of cocaine belonging to the Daniels. Former Glasgow City Councillor Billy McAllister, who has bravely spoken out about the two crime families over the years, said of the weekend violence: "It's a Deja Vu moment. Once again it has been demonstrated that these people don't play by the rules, they just suit themselves. That feud will continue until everyone of them is in the ground. It is not going to go away any time soon."
