Eddie Lyons Jr and Ross Monaghan

A warm night on the Costa del Sol, a crowded beachfront bar, and two sharp cracks that changed everything. We open on the Fuengirola double murder that left Ross Monaghan and Eddie Lyons Jr dead in under a minute, then trace the fault lines back through decades of Glasgow’s organised crime—territory disputes, drug routes, and a rivalry between the Lions and the Daniel groups that learned to travel as fast as a budget flight.

We walk through who Monaghan and Lyons were and why their names carried weight far beyond their hometown. From a high‑profile Glasgow car‑park killing to later attempts on their lives, patterns emerge: survive the ambush, move south, set up a bar, keep old business cautiously at arm’s length. That context reframes the Spanish shooting not as chaos, but as choreography—selective targeting designed to send a message without igniting a public war.

The investigation moves at continental scale. Spanish National Police lead and loop in organised‑crime units. UK partners feed intelligence. Public narratives split: Spanish officials suggest a professional killer tied to Glasgow rivals, while Police Scotland says it has no evidence of orchestration from home soil. Meanwhile, the prime suspect reportedly threads through multiple countries in hours, using disguises, before a June arrest in Liverpool triggers extradition hearings and legal sparring over prison risks and due process.

Along the way, we explore why Spain’s southern coast remains a magnet for British and Irish syndicates: bustling expat life, cash‑heavy front businesses, and the comfortable anonymity of tourist crowds. We unpack how modern gangs professionalise—quiet logistics, fast exits, and targeted strikes—and how law enforcement cooperation is catching up, from international warrants to extended Spanish remand that buys time for complex cases.

If organised crime has a map, it looks like this: Glasgow streets feeding into Mediterranean terraces, old grudges carried in new passports, and a justice system straining to meet mobility with coordination. Listen to the full story, then tell us what you think: are these killings a closing chapter or a signal that the feud has simply found sunnier ground? If this deep dive hooked you, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review so others can find it too.

Transcript

Welcome To Glasgow’s Underworld

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Welcome to A Dark City, the podcast that delves into the shadowy underbell of Glasgow, a city with a storied past and a reputation for resilience. Here we uncover the chilling true stories of serious crimes that have left their mark on the city's history. From notorious gangland wars to unsolved mysteries, join us as we explore the darker side of Glasgow and the people whose lives were forever changed by its crimes. It's a warm evening in Fuengarola, southern Spain. Two Scottish men sat outside a beachfront Irish bar. Tourists laughed, drinks were poured, music drifted into the Mediterranean air. Then, gunfire. Within seconds, Eddie Lyons Jr. was dead. Moments later, Ross Monaghan lay fatally wounded inside the bar he owned. The gunman vanished into the night. Police would later call it a professional hit execution style, targeted. But this wasn't just a double murder in Spain, it may have been the latest chapter in a feud that began more than 20 years earlier on the streets of Glasgow. If you have listened to previous episodes, you'll be familiar with some of the names mentioned going forward, but if not, don't worry, you'll soon be brought up to speed. In this episode, we'll cover who Ross Monaghan and Eddie Lyons Jr. really were, the criminal history that followed them across borders, the decades-long gangland feud behind the headlines, the arrest in Liverpool, and the wider implications for organized crime in Europe. Fwangerola is not a dangerous place, it's a resort town, sun, beaches, holiday apartments, retirees from the UK and Ireland, visited by thousands of tourists every year. Monaghan's bar sat along the seafront, a very popular place with expats. At around 11 p.m., customers were seated outside. Eddie Lyons Jr. was among them, watching a football match and enjoying the night like many others. Then a vehicle pulls up. Witnesses later describe a man exits, face partially covered, purposeful stride, no shouting, no confrontation, just gunfire, two sharp cracks. Lyons is struck at close range. He collapses almost immediately. Panic ensues, chairs scatter, people scream. The gunman does not flee, though. Inside the bar, Ross Monahan attempts to retreat deeper into the premises. The attacker follows. More shots. Monahan falls. Within moments, the gunman exits, re-enters the waiting vehicle, and disappears. Total time, likely under 60 seconds. Two dead. No random victims targeted. This was not chaos. It was precision. Ross Monahan had survived violence before. In 2010, Glasgow was rocked by the murder of Kevin Gerbil Carroll, shot dead in a Glasgow supermarket car park. There's a full episode covering this. The killing was widely seen as part of a bitter gangland feud. Monahan was later charged in connection with the murder. In 2012, he stood trial, but was ultimately acquitted. But in Glasgow's organized crime world, acquittal doesn't erase reputation. Five years later, in 2017, Monahan was shot in Glasgow. He survived this attack. After that, he relocated to Spain. Part of a pattern common among British and Irish organized crime figures. Spain offered distance from rivals, a strong expat community, business opportunities, and historically, lighter visibility. Monaghan's bar became his base, a public-facing business, a new chapter, but perhaps not a clean slate. Eddie Lyons, Jr. had also survived gun violence. In 2006, he was shot in what authorities believed to be a gang-related conflict. He was widely reported to be associated with the Lions Organised Crime Group, one of Scotland's most prominent family-based criminal networks. For over two decades, the Lions Group had been locked in a violent rivalry with the Daniel Crime Group. Shootings, firebombing, and murders. And unlike street gangs, these were organized operations, structured, strategic, generational. Again, there is a separate episode, Daniels vs. Lions. By 2025, much of the violence had shifted from open warfare to strategic targeting, which makes the Costa del Sol killings stand out. The Lions-Daniel feud traces back to the early 2000s. At its core were disputes over drug distribution networks, territory in Glasgow and surrounding areas, influence within the organized crime structures. Over time, violence escalated. The 2010 murder of Kevin Carroll marked a turning point, drawing national attention. Law enforcement intensified operations. Arrests were made. But the feud never fully died. Instead, it evolved. As some figures moved to Spain, Dubai, or elsewhere in Europe, conflict became international. And Spain, particularly the Costa del Sol, has long been a hub for British and Irish organised crime. So when Monaghan and Lyons were killed there, investigators immediately asked, Was this Scottish business exported abroad? Spanish police led the murder investigation, with elite organized crime units involved early on. Police Scotland publicly came out and stated there was no intelligence linking the shootings to the gang feud in Glasgow, despite widespread speculation about a gangland war between the Lions clan and their rivals. Spanish authorities issued an international arrest warrant for suspects connected to the shootings. The Spanish National Police and UK law enforcement worked in tandem with intelligence sharing and cooperation between agencies. It wasn't long before Spanish police reported that the main suspect may have fled through three different countries in under 15 hours, using disguises to avoid capture. On 14 June 2025, a 44-year-old man from Merseyside, later identified in reports as Michael Terence Riley, was arrested in Liverpool on suspicion of the double murders under the Spanish warrant. The arrest was carried out by Merseyside Police with operational support from the National Crime Agency following the Spanish authorities' request. During a press conference on the 17th of June in Malaga, the Spanish National Police said Monaghan and Lyons were targeted by a professional killer from the Glasgow-based Daniel Group. Police Scotland reiterated to BBC Scotland News that it stood by a previous statement and added it had no current evidence to suggest the double shooting was orchestrated from Scotland. On the 19th of June, Riley appeared in Westminster Magistrates Court in London via video link from HMP Wandsworth. At this point, he has yet to be formally charged, so he does not respond to the allegations from the Spanish police. On Friday, 4 July, a joint funeral was held. Hundreds of mourners gathered to pay their respects to Lyons Jr., 46, and Monaghan, 43, at Bishop Briggs Crematorium in East Dunbartonshire, where two silver hearses carried the coffins with floral tributes that said, Dad and Son. On the 29th of September, there is another hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court, which Riley does not appear this time, but his defense lawyer said on his behalf that he would be in fear of his life from other gang members if detained in a Spanish prison. The following month, on the 15th of October, Riley is extradited from the UK to Spain to face charges, with a court date set for the 16th of October. Under Spanish law, suspects can be remanded in custody for up to four years, although a two-year extension after the initial two years of incarceration has to be approved by a judge at a special hearing. As it stands, Riley has been moved from a prison in Madrid to one in Malaga at the request of his lawyer, where he will remain in custody until any trial concludes.