Former gangster Paul Ferris, who served time for firearms offences and is now a reformed criminal turned successful author and filmmaker, has spoken about the long-running feud between the Lyons and Daniel crime families in Glasgow. Ferris says he knows both families but has always refused to take sides, maintaining strict neutrality.
Ferris stays neutral as feud escalates
Ferris, 62, said: "I know both the families and they know my position. It's always been neutrality. I don't get involved. I am doing what I am doing. I'm writing books. I earn a living. I am not involved in that world. I am aware of who's who but they don't come near me with any issues."
Instead, Ferris is focusing on a sequel to his Bafta-winning film The Wee Man, a second movie about his life, and a third called Going Straight. He has published five books, including a novel, and his first book The Ferris Conspiracy was adapted into The Wee Man.
Recent violence in the feud
In the last 15 months, more than 60 people have been arrested following a series of firebombings and machete attacks in Edinburgh and Glasgow linked to the 25-year feud. In June last year, two members of the Lyons organised crime group, Eddie Lyons Jnr and Ross Monaghan, were shot dead in a bar in Fuengirola on the Costa del Sol. A Liverpool man, Michael Riley, was extradited to Spain to stand trial for their murder. Last month, Steven Lyons, head of the Lyons family, was extradited from Holland to Spain to stand trial on money laundering charges, having been deported from Bali in late March.
Ferris said he does not follow the latest developments closely: "I don't follow it at all. Some of the alerts come up and you hear about the arrests in Bali and things like that. Then there's the boy that got arrested from Liverpool. These are the stories that crop up." He added: "People know exactly what they are doing. They are taking a risk. If they get away with it, then it's probably beneficial. If they don't get away with it... maybe they never get out."
Parallels with the Thompson-Welsh feud
Ferris sees similarities with a previous long-running feud between Glasgow crime boss Arthur Thompson Snr and the Welsh family, which led to three deaths in the 1960s. He said: "I look back on the Thompson Welsh scenario. I also look back at other disputes from years ago. You get grandkids growing up to fight the other kids. It becomes personal. It's perpetual until it comes to an end."
In 1966, Thompson's mother-in-law Margaret Johnstone was killed when a bomb made from dynamite exploded in his car parked outside the family home in Glasgow. The feud also saw two male members of the Welsh family killed when they were both run down by a car. At the High Court in Glasgow in November 1966, Thompson Snr was cleared of the culpable homicide of the two men, while three Welsh family members were cleared of killing Margaret Johnstone and trying to kill Thompson.
Ferris's criminal past
Ferris, a former enforcer for Arthur Thompson Snr, has also talked about being bullied by members of the Welsh family when he was growing up. He first came to public attention in 1992 when he was cleared at the High Court in Glasgow of the murder of Arthur Thompson Jnr, son of Arthur Thompson Snr, in what was the longest-running trial in Scottish criminal history. Ferris then stood trial at the Old Bailey in London in 1998, where he was convicted of conspiracy to sell or transfer prohibited weapons, deal in firearms, and possess explosives. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, later reduced to seven. While in prison, he wrote The Ferris Conspiracy, which was turned into The Wee Man.
