GANG WAR FEARS OVER M8 HORROR
Threats made after three men killed in smash
POLICE fear a violent gangland backlash in the aftermath of a horror car crash which killed three men.
They have been warned that associates of one victim have vowed to “get to the bottom” of how the accident happened.
It is understood at least four of the eight men involved in the smash on the M8 last weekend were linked to organised crime.
Sources say one of the victims, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was blamed for a series of petrol bombings and deliberate fires in Greenock last year.
An Audi Q7 came off the westbound carriageway last Sunday morning. Now officers have received intelligence that underworld figures associated with those killed have threatened violence against survivors.
An insider said: “There was a number of men in the car who were well known to police.
“They were associated with crime in the west of Scotland and had links to the drug trade. Friends of the men who died are very angry and have said they’ll find out what happened if police don’t.
“People close to one of the victims have made a direct threat.”
It is understood Police Scotland has issued at least one threat to life warning to one of the survivors.
The three men killed were Mark Downie, 31, and David Paton and Manveer Benning, both 27.
They were travelling in the seven-seater Audi with five other men, who were all badly hurt. All are understood to be from the
Greenock and Inverclyde area. The 35-year-old driver of the car was arrested but later released.
It later emerged that Paton was sentenced to 13-and-a-half years at the High Court in Glasgow for culpable homicide when he was 17. Along with another, he stabbed Chris Knox, 17, to death in Greenock.
Officers have made several arrests in connection with a series of firebombings on properties in Greenock last year.