BBC Radio 5 Live podcast series, Gangster: The Story of the Daniels and the Lyons explores one of Scotland’s deadliest gang wars, between two families – the Daniels and the Lyons.
Hosted by investigative journalist, Livvy Haydock, podcast follows the explosive story of how two families and their associates went to war over control of the lucrative drug trade in north Glasgow.
From machete attacks and shootings to torture and murder, some families were torn apart and witnesses were forced into protection, during a violent feud which has raged on the streets of Scotland for over two decades.
In one murder, which sent shockwaves throughout the country, shoppers and their children fled in terror when Daniels enforcer, Kevin “the Gerbil” Carroll, was shot dead outside a busy supermarket in broad daylight.
The six-part podcast takes a journey from the scrap yards of Glasgow, tracing the feud’s connections to some of the most powerful drug dealing networks in the world.
It reveals how Zander Sutherland, son of Jamie Daniel, fled the UK while on home leave from prison. He is now in Norway fighting extradition, insisting that his life is in danger if he returns to Scotland.
Throughout the series, Livvy hears about the history of gang violence in the city and investigates how a corrupt police officer helped one crime family stay one step ahead of the law.
Livvy Haydock says: “This is the most bloody and brutal Gangster series to date. This investigation has been eye opening and uncovers the story of two of Glasgow’s most notorious crime families.
“It’s a vicious war which has raged on for twenty years and is still going on to this day. We’ve heard some fascinating testimonies and stories, and I hope listeners are as gripped as I was making it.”
The series also hears from detectives who took on the warring clans, criminal associates who share the secrets of the underworld and community leaders who bravely stood up to the gangsters.
Norman Silvester is an award-winning journalist who has worked as a crime reporter at Glasgow’s biggest newspapers for over 30 years.
He says: “The feud between the Daniels and the Lyons families has become one of the major crime stories across Scotland in the last 20 years. A feud over an unpaid drugs debt has escalated into murder, mayhem and tit-for-tat attacks that have been happening on an almost industrial scale.
“It’s very difficult to get anyone in the city to talk openly about the feud and there’s a natural reluctance for fear of reprisals, it’s as simple as that. It could be local residents or could be former police officers. It’s still very much an active feud.
“You’ve got to be careful in this city. You don’t know who you’re speaking to. Both crime families are very well connected. Their tentacles spread far and near.”
Journalist, David Leslie, says: “It’s never ever going to be resolved. This dispute will go on till the end of time.”
You can listen to Gangster: The Story of the Daniels and the Lyons on BBC Sounds from today, 3 December, and on other platforms weekly.
