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Gang rift members admit fire attack on businessman's cars

News imageAlan Simpson A composite of two pictures. The left picture shows a young man outside court wearing a cream hoodie with the hood up. He has curly brown hair worn in a long fringe. His hands are in his pockets. The right photo is of another young man wearing a cream Nike puffer jacket over a dark hoodie, again with the hood up. He has fair curly hair worn in a long fringe.Alan Simpson
Kenzie Gardner (left) and Tyler Ramage (right) were among the men involved in the fire attack last year

Four men have admitted a fire-raising attack on the home of an Edinburgh businessman as part of a gangland feud.

Tyler Ramage, 19, Robert Thomson, 18, Kenzie Gardner, 19, and Kieran Abercrombie, 32, were involved in setting fire to a Land Rover and Audi outside the house in Pitcairn Grove on 8 May last year.

The property belongs to David McMillan - an associate of convicted drug dealer Mark Richardson.

Three of the men - Thomson, Gardner and Abercrombie - also admitted setting fire to a private hire taxi premises in Glasgow earlier the same day.

Thomson and Abercrombie - who are not pictured for legal reasons - pled guilty to a separate charge of conspiring to damage cars at another property in Edinburgh.

All the offences were aggravated by a link to serious organised crime.

At the High Court in Edinburgh, Lord Mulholland told the four men they could expect significant jail sentences for their "sheer naked gangsterism".

He remanded the four men in custody.

They will return to court for a sentencing hearing on 10 March.

News imageCrown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service The burned out remains of a white Land Rover, parked on a suburban driveway.Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service
A court was shown the burned out remains of the Land Rover targeted on Pitcairn Grove

The men were arrested as part of Operation Portaledge - the police operation set up to investigate a spate of apparent tit-for-tat violence which started making headlines in March last year.

More than 60 people have been arrested through the operation.

The gangland feud has led to assaults, shootings and fire bombings across the east and west of Scotland.

A Scottish man, who was based in Dubai at the time, is alleged to have started the feud by targeting a crime group led by Mark Richardson.

The attacks later spread across the west of Scotland where there has been a violent rivalry between the Daniel and the Lyons families dating back more than 20 years.

Violence raged through Glasgow and Edinburgh during the first half of last year, though the dispute appears to have settled down.

Several people with links to the Daniel family are said to have been targeted during the wave of attacks.

Two prominent figures in the Lyons crime group, Eddie Lyons Jnr and Ross Monaghan, were shot dead at a bar in Spain on 31 May 2025.

Police Scotland has maintained it has no evidence the double murder is linked to the feud, despite conflicting claims by a senior Spanish officer.

A number of high-profile gangland figures were arrested in Dubai in last September but have since been released.

Det Ch Supt Dave Ferry of the specialist crime division said: "These were concerning incidents for the local community and now those responsible will face the consequences of their actions.

"I want to make it clear to those intent on being involved in serious and organised crime that we will not give up and you will be brought to justice.

"These convictions are further examples of Police Scotland's commitment to the Serious and Organised Crime Taskforce and its national strategy"