Three Men Jailed for Firebomb Attacks on Daniel Crime Family Properties in Glasgow
Three men have been imprisoned for their involvement in a spate of firebomb attacks during a gangland conflict in the west of Scotland. Marshall O'Hara, 21, Fraser Stewart, 22, and Aiden McLaughlin, 21, targeted residential properties and a carpet business with links to the Daniel crime family.
The High Court in Glasgow sentenced O'Hara and Stewart to seven-and-a-half years each, while McLaughlin received a three-year term. Lord Mulholland, the presiding judge, described the actions as “sheer naked gangsterism, pure and simple,” adding that the perpetrators “could have quite easily been facing a murder charge if matters had taken a different course.”
Evidence from CCTV and doorbell camera footage captured the trio's involvement. One notable clip showed McLaughlin's footwear igniting as he jumped from the roof of a targeted building during a blaze. The incidents were part of Operation Portaledge, a police investigation into gang violence across Scotland's central belt.
The attacks began on 7 April last year with a firebombing in Glasgow's Milton area, where occupants narrowly escaped as their home caught fire. Subsequent targets included a house in Stepps, Lanarkshire, where a £70,000 BMW X5 was torched, and The Carpet Store Factory Outlet in Bishopbriggs, East Dunbartonshire, which sustained extensive damage. A further attack occurred a week later at another Bishopbriggs property, where residents were woken by flames and extinguished the blaze themselves.
O'Hara and Stewart pleaded guilty to four charges of wilful fire-raising. McLaughlin admitted his role in the Carpet Store attack. Defence lawyers stated that the men primarily engaged in these acts to settle drug debts, with at least one individual reportedly receiving only £300 for their involvement.