Ruthless gang known as ‘Mourne Mafia' take over drugs turf in border region
A Co Down-based criminal gang is muscling in on Northern Ireland's drug trade.
Dubbed the Mourne Mafia, the gang is headed by a three-man team who are using truck drivers to operate their drug running and people trafficking rackets across the UK and on the continent.
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Scottish Sun
9 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
Gangland ‘Godfather' Eddie Lyons Snr bids farewell to gunned down son & kingpin pal as loyal hoods pack out funeral
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) GRIEVING Godfather Eddie Lyons Snr can't hide his pain as he says a final farewell to murdered son Eddie Jnr who was laid to rest with lifelong Lyons gang pal Ross Monaghan. The 67-year-old was surrounded by security heavies as he arrived with loved-ones for the joint funeral of two of Scotland's most notorious crime kingpins. 14 Eddie Lyons Jnr, left, and Ross Monaghan were murdered by a gunman on May 31 14 The funeral of Eddie Lyons Jr and Ross Monaghan took place today 14 Gangland boss Eddie Lyons Snr pictured leaving the funeral Lyons, 46, and Monaghan, 43, were given a final send-off this afternoon - one month after they were gunned down in a Spanish boozer amid Scotland's raging turf wars. The solemn occasion came days after we revealed authorities in Spain had handed over the pair's bodies to relatives for repatriation. Hundreds of friends, family and underworld figures gathered at Bishopbriggs Crematorium in north Glasgow to show respect to Monaghan and Lyons Jnr - brother of Dubai-based mob boss Steven Lyons, 44. One onlooker said: 'Eddie looked like a broken man. He was pale and had to be led into the crematorium by a security team. 'His son was murdered and Ross was as good as his boy. 'The service was touching and, at times, funny. But nobody should forget just how dangerous Monaghan and Lyons were. 'They'd have just as keenly seen their rivals' parents cry at their funerals.' As early arrivals streamed to the venue a white van was seen dropping off elaborate floral tributes that read 'Friend', 'Nephew', 'Uncle' and 'brother'. 14 Hundreds of friends, family and underworld figures are gathering for the funeral 14 The order of service 'Celebrating the lives of Ross Monaghan & Edward Lyons' 14 Mourners carrying the coffins into Bishopbriggs Crematorium 14 Lyons associate Liam Boyle, pictured centre A violinist stood at the entrance playing the moving theme tune to the movie Braveheart as scores of mourners began arriving shortly before the 3pm send-off. Dozens of flash cars and SUVs, many with blacked-out privacy glass windows, poured into the car park with many more left outside in the street as huge numbers flocked to the service. Spanish cops insist hitman who executed Ross Monaghan & Eddie Lyons Jr killer WAS member of rival Daniel clan Security guards were roped in to keep a close eye on proceedings amid months of raging tit-for-tat violence between Scotland's rival crime clans. Two silver hearses arrived carrying the murdered duo's bodies with a Range Rover driving ahead and a family fleet of Mercedes following on. Close pal and Lyons associate Liam Boyle, 44, could be seen in the family cars with visibly distraught relatives of the men who both had wreaths saying 'dad' and 'son' placed in their respective hearses. Another flourish of white roses spelling the name 'Ross' could be also seen resting beside Monaghan's mahogany coffin as the vehicles slowly approached around 400 mourners waiting for the service to begin. Associates of the pair dressed in black appeared to form a guard of honour, standing in two lines as the cars approached the main building. The service was delayed briefly, given the huge number of cars pouring into the car park to say a final farewell to the infamous pair. An order of service with a Celtic-style engraving was handed out to mourners showing close pals Monaghan - sporting a greying red beard - and Lyons grinning for a photo taken in happier times. A quote from the Coldplay song Everglow was used in tribute to Monaghan, reading: 'Oh, they say people come, say people go. This particular diamond was extra special.' Pictures were included beside the ode dubbed 'Our Hero' that showed Monaghan wearing shades, enjoying a pint of Guinness and sharing a precious moment with his children. A gallery of pictures in tribute to Eddie included a snap with his dad when he was just a baby. It read: 'We hold your heart in our hearts. We love you always forever.' The mournful hit tune Bitter Sweet Symphony by The Verve played through speakers amid sombre summer rain as grieving relatives made their way inside the crematorium building. Eddie Lyons Snr, 67, was seen huddling closely with loved-ones as the coffins were carried inside to make their final journey. The coffins were placed side-by-side as dozens of mourners squeezed into the main building where many stood in the aisles with every seat taken. The service was streamed to a screen outside where hundreds more listened in silence with many sheltering from the downpour under umbrellas. 14 Tributes to Ross Monaghan in the order of service, featuring a lyric from Coldplay's Everglow 14 Loving family tributes to Eddie Lyons Jr 14 Floral tributes left outside the crematorium after the joint funeral The service heard the lifelong pals were born in the same hospital and formed a bond that would last until their final days. A eulogy described the impact their deaths have had on their loved ones, saying: 'For these two families, that grieving process has begun. 'This can be like the ocean. Some days it might be calm and they can almost cope. Other days it will threaten to overwhelm them and drown them. 'Everyone in this room has been touched by Edwards and Ross in some way. Let's take a few moments to remember them and in our hearts recall once more the things about each of us that they loved and admired and cherished about them. 'The sons, brothers, husbands, dads, cousins and the loyal and trusted friends.' The bodies were then interred to a cover version of the song Forever Young as a montage of personal photos showing Monaghan and Lyons as loved-ones will remember them most. Eddie Snr and close family members then left to the waiting motors with private security guards by their side as they left the funeral venue. We told how Lyons Jnr and Monaghan met their end after watching the Champions League Final in Monaghans, Fuengirola, on Saturday May 31. In the wake of the killings, associates of the Irish Kinahan cartel leaders gave their support to the families and promised them: 'We'll get this sorted.' Allies of fugitive kingpin Daniel Kinahan had also told grieving loved ones they intended to pay their respects at the funerals of the executed hoods. 14 Monaghans bar in Fuengirola, Spain where the two hoods were assassinated. 14 CCTV captured the moment a gunman pursued Monaghan inside the death boozer. We told how Monaghan was key in helping to cement the Glasgow-based Lyons' ties with the Kinahans, who have a £4million bounty on their heads in the US. A relative told The Scottish Sun: 'The family have had a few phone calls from them to say, 'Sorry for your loss'.' We told how alleged hitman Michael Riley is to fight extradition. The 44-year-old, of Huyton, Liverpool, appeared last month at Westminster Magistrates Court as part of a bid to have him shipped to Spain. Riley's full extradition hearing will be in October and is expected to last all day. The Lyons gang kingpins were drinking in Monaghans bar when they were gunned down in front of staff and revellers. A hooded assassin was captured on CCTV storming the boozer and shooting both men dead in a targeted double hit. We told how cops in Spain and Scotland gave conflicting information over who is believed to have ordered the slayings. Police Scotland first insisted they had 'no intelligence' to suggest the murders were connected to an ongoing turf war here. However, their Spain counterparts later said the man they want extradited over the killings was 'an internal member of the rival Daniel gang'. We told how a captured mobile phone holds the key to proving the alleged assassination is linked to their Daniel gang rivals, sources claim. Insiders say it contains data allegedly linking Riley to Daniel hoods who Spanish detectives reckon are behind the massacre. Career criminal Monaghan – who fled Scotland for Spain after a failed attempt on his life in 2017 – was tried but acquitted over the murder of notorious Glasgow hood Kevin 'Gerbil' Carroll at an Asda car park in 2010. In August 2017, he and Lyons Jr, both members of the Lyons Glasgow crime family, were cleared of being involved in a brutal street attack on three men outside the Campsie bar in Bishopbriggs, near Glasgow. The murders happened in the thick of a gang war in Scotland involving associates of caged kingpin Mark Richardson, 38, and his allies in the Daniel clan - the Lyons' arch-enemies. Dubai-based hood Ross 'Miami' McGill and a group known as Tamo Junto have been targeting Richardson's associates and Daniel's family members. 14 Ross 'Miami' McGill, a former Union Bears ultra, is waging war on associates of Mark Richardson
ITV News
11 hours ago
- ITV News
Fr Edward Gallagher charged with additional seven child sex offences
A Donegal-based priest who is originally from Londonderry, who has been in prison custody since last April charged with attempting to sexually communicate with a child, has appeared before the Magistrate's Court in Derry charged with an additional seven child sex abuse offences. Fr Edward Gallagher, 58, from Orchard Park in Lifford, had been released from Maghaberry Prison yesterday into the custody of the PSNI for three days to enable them to interview him about seven similar offences. In court today the defendant, who has been suspended from ministry following his arrest last April, was additionally charged with possessing an extreme pornographic image and with possessing an indecent photograph or pseudo-photograph of a child. He's alleged to have committed the offences on April 17 of this year. The defendant was further charged with making and distributing indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of children, sexually communicating with a child and with two counts of an adult causing or inciting unknown children under the age of sixteen to engage in or watch a sexual act. Those offences are also alleged to have occurred last April 17. A detective constable from the PSNI's Public Protection Branch told District Judge Oonagh Mullan that he could connect the defendant to the seven new charges. The defendant, who stood handcuffed in the dock alongside a prison officer, spoke only to confirm his name and address and that he understood the charges against him. Barrister Stephen Chapman said he was not making a bail application and the defendant was returned to custody in Maghaberry Prison. The case was adjourned until July 31 when the defendant will appear via video link.
Daily Record
14 hours ago
- Daily Record
Gangland funeral for gunned down hoods Eddie Lyons and Ross Monaghan takes place in Glasgow
Mob land mourners gathered at Bishopbriggs Crematorium in the north of the city as the hoods were given a double send off. Slain gangsters Eddie Lyons and Ross Monaghan are being laid to rest together as a double funeral takes place in Glasgow. Mob land mourners began arriving at Bishopbriggs Crematorium in the north of the city ahead of the service at 3pm on Friday before two silver funeral cars carrying two coffins arrived at the site. A huge crowd, dressed in black and draped in designer gear, queued to gain entry into the building as they waited for the cortege to arrive. Women cried and held each other while a number of male associates of the pair stood together to form two parallel lines at the entrance to the crematorium in "guard of honour". More than 100 cars were seen at the premises, many of them large, dark SUVs with blacked out windows. Dozens of vehicles were also dumped on the road outside the crematorium as people flocked in to pay their respects to the hoods. Two private security guards in yellow jackets were also spotted monitoring the scene as they moved around the perimeter of the car park. Senior mob member Eddie Lyons Jnr and key lieutenant Ross Monaghan were shot dead in a targeted assassination at Monaghan's bar in Fuengirola, Costa Del Sol, on May 31. The pair were brutally executed in front of horrified tourists who were enjoying a drink after the Champions League final. Lyons Jr, 46, was on a sunshine holiday with golf buddies from Dullatur Golf Club in Cumbernauld. The group later headed to the Irish boozer owned by long-time pal Monaghan when he was shot dead outside after a masked gunman emerged from a car. The assailant then stormed the boozer and fired bullets into Monaghan as pub-goers scrambled to flee the scene. Footage shared in the aftermath showed a woman trying to administer CPR to Lyons on the pavement as a panicked pal shouted "save him". Horrific CCTV from inside the bar showed Monaghan attempting to flee from the gunman inside the bar. In the distressing clip, he was seen crawling across the floor in his bid to escape as blood from a stomach wound poured from his t-shirt. The 43-year-old quickly succumbed to his injuries. A nurse told how she held his hand as he lay dying. Harrowing images later showed Monaghan and Lyons ' bodies covered by white sheets following the fatal attack. The shootings took place after an explosive gang war erupted in Scotland earlier this year after. The feud was sparked when cronies of cocaine kingpin Mark Richardson ripped off Dubai-based Ross McGill, a former Rangers 'ultras' fan leader, in a £500,000 drug deal. Richardson's henchman Michael Heeps orchestrated the transaction that ripped off McGill after he was paid in fake notes. McGill retaliated by launching a relentless and violent vendetta of shootings an firebombings led by his sinister 'Tamo Junto' group - dragging anybody associated with Richardson into the feud - including the notorious Daniels crime clan. Both Monaghan and Lyons were senior members of the Lyons crime clan who have been involved in a long-running feud with the rival Daniel family dating back almost 25 years. Spanish police chiefs investigating the double murder said it was linked to a rivalry with the Daniel family. This claim has been refuted by Police Scotland, who insist the double deaths are "not linked" to the ongoing gang war on home turf. When asked earlier this month if the gunman belonged to the Daniels crime family, Malaga -based police chief, Pedro Agudo Novo, told reporters: "Yes. Absolutely." He then added: "The double murder was carried out by a professional killer and member of one of the victims' rival gangs. "In this case, we are not talking about an independent hired killer, but an internal member of the rival Daniels gang who ends up assassinating two members of an enemy gang." Miley Riley, 44, from Liverpool, has since been charged in connection with the incident. He appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court last month and faces an extradition hearing later this year. Hood Eddie Lyons Jnr survived a previous attempt on his life some 18 years ago when he was ambushed by Kevin "Gerbil" Carroll in Bellshill, Lanarkshire. Trusted pal Monaghan also brushed with death a number of times throughout the course of his life. He was cleared of the murder of notorious Glasgow hood Kevin 'Gerbil' Carroll, who was shot dead in a brutal gangland assassination in Asda Robroyston carpark in 2010. Monaghan was tried for the killing of the Daniels enforcer, but was acquitted in May 2012 after it emerged there was no evidence which placed him at the supermarket at the time of the shooting. He later fled to Malaga in 2017 after he was shot twice in a gun attack outside St George's Primary School in the Penilee area of Glasgow. When the gunman opened fire, he was pushing a child's buggy.
