A Liverpudlian accused of carrying out a double gangland assassination in a Costa del Sol bar has abandoned his legal battle to avoid extradition to Spain.
Michael Riley, 44, from Huyton in Merseyside, is accused of murdering two members of Glasgow’s notorious Lyons crime clan – Ross Monaghan and Eddie Lyons Jr – in Fuengirola on May 31, during the Champions League final.
Both men were gunned down inside Monaghan’s Irish Bar, a popular venue in the seaside town.
Riley was detained in the UK two weeks after the killings on a European Arrest Warrant issued by Spanish authorities. He first appeared before Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London, where he initially fought extradition and was remanded in custody as a flight risk ahead of a full hearing scheduled for November.
At an interim session on September 29, his solicitor Renata Pinter told the court that her client’s case was being argued on the basis of Article 3 of the Human Rights Act – which ‘prohibits everyone from being subjected to torture, or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.’
She also told the judge that Riley ‘suffers from depression and anxiety’ and would ‘fear for his life from other gang members’ if imprisoned in Spain.
However, in a sudden U-turn, Riley has now consented to extradition and will remain in custody until arrangements are made for his transfer to Spain.
Following the Fuengirola shootings, Police Scotland initially said there was ‘no information to suggest the killings were connected’ to the ongoing turf war in central Scotland between rival organised crime groups.
That feud – between Edinburgh cocaine boss Mark Richardson’s crew and Ross McGill’s so-called Tamo Junto (TMJ) gang – has already led to dozens of arrests under Operation Portaledge.
Spanish investigators, however, have suggested a link to the long-running feud between the Lyons and Daniels gangs.
Malaga police chief Pedro Agudo Novo later told reporters that the suspected gunman was a ‘professional killer and member of one of the victims’ rival gangs.’
Speaking at a press conference following Riley’s arrest, Chief Superintendent Agudo Novo said: ‘The double murder was carried out by a professional killer and member of one of the victims’ rival gangs.
‘In this case, we’re not talking about an independently hired killer but an internal member of the rival Daniels gang who ends up assassinating two members of an enemy gang.’
He added that the killer displayed a chilling level of control during the attack: ‘I want to highlight the high level of professionalism of this individual.
‘Not only did he walk up to the table where the victims were sitting and kill the first man before continuing with his mission when his gun jammed.
‘It’s not normal for a criminal to react the way he did in the face of this unexpected problem and resolve the situation to continue and pursue his second victim inside the bar and kill him.’
According to the police chief, the escape was equally methodical: ‘His escape was also a very professional one. It was clear he had previously studied all the cameras in the area and undertaken some other investigative procedures I can’t go into at this stage.
‘He had his escape route perfectly planned out, picking areas where there were a lack of cameras and at one point even entering a train tunnel and crossing the tracks because he knew he couldn’t be filmed there.’
Asked whether he believed the suspect had travelled from the UK specifically to carry out the hit, Mr Agudo Novo replied: ‘Absolutely.’
He went on to detail Riley’s alleged getaway: ‘His escape route involved travelling from Spain to Portugal and he then took a plane from Portugal to Leeds. Once he got to Leeds, with the support of his gang, he changed addresses three times.’
Police say it took a week to identify the suspect.
Agudo added that when Riley was finally tracked down in Liverpool, detectives discovered he was preparing to flee ‘to a paradise island, a tax haven with which there would have been no extradition treaty.’
The Spanish investigation remains open, and police have not ruled out further arrests.
Read more Costa del Crime news at the Spanish Eye.
