Six men jailed after Glasgow gangland murder bid

Six men are behind bars after being convicted of a savage gangland murder plot. Brian Ferguson (37), Andrew Gallacher (40), Robert Pickett (54), John Hardie (35), Andrew Sinclair (32) and Peter Bain (45) were convicted following a 14 week trial at the High Court in Glasgow.

The gang were said to be part of the Lyons crime mob – long-time enemies of the Daniel clan in the north of the city.

A wave of violence erupted in December 2016 escalating after the school shooting of Ross Monaghan – once cleared of murdering Daniel enforcer Kevin 'Gerbil' Carroll.

Five men were ambushed in a series of hits over a 15-month period.

A main target was ex-taxi firm boss Steven “Bonzo” Daniel – nephew of late crimelord Jamie Daniel.

He suffered grotesque facial wounds after an attack close to the Glasgow's M8 motorway in May 2017.

Supermarket worker Ryan Fitzsimmons was one of the other four set upon - a wholly innocent caught up in the violence.

The 34 year-old is the brother of ex army veteran turned gun-runner Martyn Fitzsimmons.

He ended up brain damaged – selected as apparent revenge shortly after his sibling was held for shooting Monaghan in April 2017.

Ryan recalled: “It felt like death was coming”.

Targets were tailed using sophisticated tracking devices – helped by a shadowy “one man band” company based in Manchester.

The mob also used high-power stolen getaway cars as well as encrypted mobile phones to try and communicate in secret.

The six were found guilty of a charge of conspiracy to murder.

Lord Mulholland told them the courts take a dim view of such “gangsterous conduct”.

The judge added: “You sought to turn Glasgow into a warzone with your feud.”

He said any suggestion of a “private” dispute “could not be further from the truth”.

Lord Mulholland said: “Be under no illusion what will be coming your way when you return to court.”

The mob were remanded in custody pending sentencing next month.

The Lyons and Daniel clans have reportedly been in a long-running tit for tat feud stretching back almost 20 years.

The trial took place amid tightened security with police providing a ring of steel each day around the building.

Armed officers also patrolled outside the courtroom.

Prosecutors took the unusual step from the start in describing each outfit as a “serious organised crime group”.

The six on trial were said to be linked to the Lyons with the targets associated to the Daniel mob.

This part of the charge was later removed.

Steven Daniel is a central figure in his family.

He was attacked in the early hours of May 18 2017 having been at a Rangers and Aberdeen match at Ibrox the previous night.

Daniel watched the game with Glasgow Private Hire taxi boss Steven Malcolm, who had a hospitality box at the stadium.

A tracker was stuck on his Skoda Octavia allowing the gang to trace him from the ground eventually to the city's Milton.

The device was “the first type of its kind” used in Scotland obtained from a surveillance firm in Manchester.

A Volkswagen Golf deliberately bashed into the 39 year-old vehicle.

An Audi S3 then rolled up as Daniel went at “breakneck” speed to get away.

He estimated “doing about 100mph” as he was chased towards the M8.

Daniel even planned to drive down the wrong side of the motorway to try and escape.

But, his Skoda was again ploughed into at the M8 on-ramp at the city's Port Dundas.

Daniel said: “It was presumably the Audi...then I just passed out. I (remember) skidding towards a pole at the foot of the road.”

Daniel claimed he could not remember being attacked.

Prosecutors stated he was struck with a cleaver, hammer and other bladed weapons.

He remained in hospital for several weeks to try and repair massive wounds to his face.

Daniel is likely to need further facial reconstruction.

Prosecutor Paul Mr Kearney asked him during the trial: “The Daniel family are alleged to be a serious organised crime group.”

Daniel: “Allegedly.”

But, Daniel insisted he had no enemies before the attack – and said there was no “dispute” with the Lyons.

A crucial prosecution witness was supergrass Alistair McMillan.

The former footballer had been an associate of Steven Daniel.

But, he told jurors of being offered £50,000 to help in the “murder” of the ex-taxi firm director.

McMillan said he met three men at a secret meeting in a garden in a house in Renfrewshire.

The 43 year-old recalled: “They knew my connection to Steven and basically they wanted me to let them know where he would be at certain times.

“They were looking for me to place Steven and that I would be looked after.”

“It was a tracking device...place it on his car.

“It was obvious that they were going to do him some harm.

“No airs or graces about it.They wanted him murdered.”

Prosecutors stated it was Ferguson, Gallacher and Pickett who wanted McMillan to tip the gang off.

McMillan later had a number of meetings with Gallacher – nicknamed Dumbo - at a bar in the city's Shawlands.

McMillan said he was initially paid £500 a time for updates on Daniel.

Mr Kearney: “Did you pass on information?”

He replied: “The information I gave was false. It was information I had read from the papers or the internet.”

McMillan claimed he backed out of putting a tracker on Daniel by getting himself deliberately arrested in a road traffic incident.

Mr Kearney asked him: “Did you want Steven Daniel to come to any harm?”

McMillan: “None whatsoever.”

Ryan Fitzsimmons was ambushed outside his family home in Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire on April 28 2017.

His brother Martyn had just been held for trying to kill Ross Monaghan outside a primary school in Glasgow's Penilee months earlier.

The ex-squaddie – jailed for 10 years for his role in a crime supergang in 2018 – was eventually cleared of shooting Monaghan

Ryan was heading to work when up to five masked attackers jumped out a car and attacked him with a sword.

Ryan: “I can remember vividly as if it (the weapon) was getting stuck in my head and that it was an effort to get it out.

“It was as if they were trying to chop the top of my head off. It felt like death was coming.”

The thugs fled as neighbours came to Ryan's aid. His traumatised mum suffered a heart attack when she saw the state of her son.

Ryan – who was also a former soldier – had been a keen runner and was training for the London Marathon.

But, he is now no longer able to live on his own as a result of his ordeal.

He said he had no enemies and had “never been involved in crime”.

Ryan: “I am not the same person. I am not outgoing and keep things to myself. I don't know who to trust.”

A member of the Lyons family told police how Andrew Sinclair boasted of an attack days after Ryan was hurt.

Sinclair was said to have told Declan Lyons (20) he had earlier “done a c***”.

The pair also had a chat in Sinclair's BMW after the hit on Steven Daniel.

Lyons told officers: “He picked up a thing in his gloved hand. It was a wee black rectangular box. He told me the thing was a tracker.”

Jurors earlier heard how the first target had been Robert Daniel – previously jailed for helping attack a gran outside a pub in 2012.

The 29 year-old was chased into a house in the city's Robroyston where a child was after his car was rammed.

He was then struck with a hatchet or a machete.

Daniel told the trial: “I thought I was getting mugged for my car.”

He admitted having “quite an extensive” family. Asked did they have any ill-will towards the Lyons, Daniel replied: “Not that I know of.”

Thomas Bilsland (31) and Gary Petty (22) were the remaining two set upon.

Bilsland suffered a fractured skull after being attacked with a hatchet outside his mum's home in Glasgow's Cranhill in January 2017.

He said: “There were three or four guys with masks on. They were round me. It was all a blur.”

Petty was targeted two months later in the city's Maryhill after leaving an Italian restaurant.

He recalled: “I dropped the food and covered my head. I was just getting hit. I think it was a machete.”

Both were quizzed on the Lyons and Daniel families.

Petty claimed he had only read about any dispute in the newspapers.

Bilsland meantime said he only knew Steven Daniel from going to Rangers game with him.

Advocate depute Mr Kearney said: “The offences were of a very serious nature.

“They involved a high degree of planning, organisation and co-ordination.”

After the verdicts, it was revealed all six had a criminal past – only Ferguson had never been in jail before.

Referring to the attack on Steven Daniel, the judge told them: “He will be reminded of what happened to him every time he looks in the mirror.

“You may be pleased with your work, but you have nothing to be pleased about.”

Prosecutors have also moved for serious crime prevention orders to be slapped on the six.

None of the crew showed any emotion as he was lead to the cells.

Detective Inspector Jim Bradley, who worked on the complex and protracted enquiry, said:

"I welcome the verdict from court today and would like to take this opportunity to thank the witnesses who came forward. Their courage to provide their evidence which has been crucial in obtaining the convictions today.

"The weapons used in the attacks including machettes, meat cleavers, swords and hammers were clearly likely to result in death or significant life changing injuries for the victims. If it had not been for medical intervention a number of the victims would not have survived the attacks.

"When carrying out their premeditated, violent attacks, these individuals had absolutely no regard for the safety of innocent people in the vicinity of where they were carrying out their crimes. On one occasion, one victim that they had targeted was chased into a neighbour's house, who woke to find strangers in their home, in the dark, with someone being viciously attacked.

"This gang planned their attacks by using tracking devices on cars of their would-be victims, surveilling them for weeks and months before attacking them. This also included lying in wait for victims before ambushing them in their cars in the middle of residential areas. It is by some miracle that innocent members of the public were not injured or worse during these acts of violence.

"The individuals convicted today were tasked by higher ranking criminal associates to carry out their acts of violence for payment on people they didn't even know. These men are clearly seen as disposable by those in the upper echelons of crime groups.

"There are no winners here. A number of the victims have suffered life-changing injuries, which have affected them and their families. Those convicted today have caused suffering, not only to the victims, but also their own families, by their involvement in violent crime and their subsequent interaction.

"I hope that today's verdict serves as a deterrent to anyone who thinks that a life of being involved in this type of criminality seems glamorous. It is not."