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Two Scots shot dead in Spain had criminal gang links

Spindrift Eddie Lyons Jr, left, and Ross Monaghan, rightSpindrift
Eddie Lyons Jr and Ross Monaghan were killed in the shooting at the bar

Two Scottish men with links to a Glasgow-based criminal gang have been shot dead at a bar in Spain.

BBC Scotland understands they are Eddie Lyons Jnr and Ross Monaghan, who was previously acquitted of a notorious gangland murder.

They both died when a masked gunman opened fire at Monaghans Bar in Fuengirola in Andalucia on Saturday evening.

Local media reported the attack took place just after 23:00 when a car pulled up outside the crowded bar. The gunman then fled in the same vehicle.

Ross Monaghan was previously linked to the high-profile killing of one of Glasgow's most feared gangland figures – Kevin 'Gerbil' Carroll.

Carroll, an enforcer for the Daniel crime family, was shot 13 times as he sat in a car outside a supermarket in Robroyston, Glasgow, in 2010.

Monaghan was accused of the murder and of disposing of evidence after the killing, but was later acquitted due to a lack of evidence.

Video circulating on social media showed police at the scene of the attack
Video circulating on social media showed police at the scene of the attack

He was himself shot in the shoulder as he dropped off his daughter at a primary school in Glasgow in 2017.

He is reported to have moved to Spain at around this time.

Eddie Lyons Jnr had also previously been shot and wounded in an attack in 2006, believed to have been carried out by Carroll.

Police Scotland said it was unable to comment on a possible link to a recent gangland feud in Scotland and has directed inquiries to the Spanish authorities.

Rivalries between the Lyons and the Daniel crime families, resulting in numerous violent attacks, have been ongoing for more than 20 years.

But BBC journalist Guy Hedgecoe, based in Madrid, said there had been a number of other shootings in the Costa del Sol area in recent weeks, several of which are believed to be connected with drug crime.

Monaghans is located on the seafront and is a popular bar with tourists and expats.

The bar had been screening the UEFA Champions League final on the evening of the attack.

The Foreign Office said it had not been approached for any consular assistance but that its staff stood ready to assist any British nationals if required.