£50k TO HELP KILL BONZO
LYONS V DANIEL TRIAL Jury told of cash offer to set up blade attack victim
A PAL of Steven “Bonzo” Daniel was offered £50,000 to set him up for a murder bid by planting a tracker device on him, a court heard yesterday. Alistair McMillan said he snubbed the offer and told jurors he got himself arrested to avoid taking part in the plot. The trial continues.
A MAN yesterday told a court he was offered £50,000 to help in the “murder” of a member of alleged crime gang.
Alistair McMillan was an associate of former taxi firm boss Steven “Bonzo” Daniel.
McMillan said he was told of a planned attack on Daniel, 39, at a secret meeting with three men. This was said to involve the 43-year-old putting a “tracker” device on Daniel.
But McMillan, an ex-professional footballer, told jurors he later got himself arrested to avoid taking part.
Daniel ended up with serious facial wounds when he was set upon in May 2017. McMillan’s claims were heard at the High Court in Glasgow yesterday.
Six men who were allegedly part of the Lyons criminal gang are on trial accused of targeting those linked to the Daniel clan. The accusations include a string of attempted murders.
McMillan told how he was asked in 2017 to go to the Paisley home of a man he knew. McMillan, “Fergie”, “Victor” and another man he didn’t know the name of went to the garden.
Prosecutor Paul Kearney asked: “What did they say?” He replied: “They knew my connection to Steven and wanted me to let them know where he would be at certain times.
“It was Fergie who was doing most of the talking. They were looking for me to place Steven and that I would be looked after.” Kearney asked what “place” meant. McMillan said: “It was a tracking device … place it on his car. It was obvious that they were going to do him some harm. It was blunt, short and sweet. No airs or graces about it.
“They wanted me to place Steven. They wanted him murdered.”
McMillan said he “played along”, adding: “Basically, if I placed him, I would get £50,000.”
He told the jury he went on to have a number of meetings with Andrew Gallacher, 40 – one of the men on trial.
But McMillan said any information he passed on to Gallacher was false.
McMillan was later due to put the tracker on Daniel on a trip to London. But, in early May 2017, he ended up in police cells on a road traffic rap.
McMillan claimed he wanted no part in the attack plan and “took the opportunity to bow out gracefully”.
Detective seized the tracker device and seven mobile phones he had.
Kearney asked: “Did you want Steven Daniel to come to any harm?” McMillan replied: “None whatsoever.”
Daniel was attacked in Glasgow on May 18, 2017. McMillan said he was asked to check on Daniel in hospital to discover “the extent of the damage” to him and find out whether there would be any “retaliation”. But he claimed he did not go to hospital.
Gallacher, Robert Pickett, 53, Brian Ferguson, 37, John Hardie, 35, Andrew Sinclair, 32, and Peter Bain, 45, deny targeting Daniel and four others.
The trial continues.