Gangland attack on Glasgow Daniels hit man took place on day of attempted murder trial

Drug dealing Glasgow hit man James McDonald was attacked behind bars on the day he was due to go on trial over an alleged attempted murder bid.

The gangland figure, who is currently serving a life sentence over the Applerow Motors shootings in 2006, was attacked within HMP Edinburgh last month.

It was previously reported he was targeted just days before fellow Daniel clan member Robert Daniel was also attacked in the jail. The Record reports the attack on McDonald came the day before he was due in court over an alleged attempted murder behind bars.

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McDonald was accused of trying to slay con David Gilday in 2021 at Low Moss Prison. He was due to go on trial at the High Court in Edinburgh.

Prosecutors claimed the hitman, who was found guilty of the murder of Michael Lyons and the shooting of his cousin, Steven Lyons, and Lyons associate Robert Pickett, attacked Gilday with a makeshift weapon.

It was alleged the 51-year-old had struck Gilday on the head, face and neck with a "sharpened pen" in the East Dunbartonshire nick, and he was due to go on trial over the claims on October 8.

However, the case was treated as 'not called' by prosecutors, meaning it was shelved. McDonald, who was also previously jailed for dealing heroin in jail, is now in the clear.

Gilday, 48, has a history of substance misuse and previously claimed his human rights were breached when jail staff confiscated a card he'd been sent which they believed was laced with drugs.

The thug, who has numerous convictions for violent crimes, took legal action at the Court of Session, against the Scottish Prison Service, over the card seizure, but his claim was thrown out by a judge.

He previously tried to kill a man while out on Christmas leave from an earlier jail term. He was less than halfway through a 10-year sentence but was allowed home leave from Noranside open prison, near Forfar, Angus.

He went to McAndrews Bar in Kirkcaldy on Christmas Day 2005 and launched a savage hammer attack on Darren Flockhart, who was 25 at the time, with a hammer. He was jailed for eight years for the offence.

Sources say the attack on Gilday came amid a fallout between him and McDonald and that Gilday was going to observe omertà - a code of silence among criminals which sees them not cooperating with the authorities.

Two men are now being reported to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service over the jail attack on McDonald.

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "Two men aged 25 and 34 years will be subject of a report to the Procurator Fiscal in connection with an assault that took place on Tuesday, 8 October, 2024.

A spokesperson for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS): "The Crown has a duty to review cases at all stages of proceedings.

"After careful consideration of the facts and circumstances of the case, independent Crown Counsel instructed that there should be no further proceedings taken at this time. As is standard, the Crown reserves the right to raise proceedings."

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