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Tuesday, 26 October 2010

GANGLAND twins James and Bryan Hanlon broke their silence yesterday to reveal how they survived attacks that shocked Scotland.

GANGLAND twins James and Bryan Hanlon broke their silence yesterday to reveal how they survived attacks that shocked Scotland.
The pair spoke out after the savage assaults blamed on an underworld feud left them fighting for their lives.
But they denied reports that James had a power drill used on his head and that his brother's groin had been horrifically injured in a brutal chisel attack.
Despite James having drugs convictions and being cleared on a gun charge last year, Bryan denied the brothers were dealers or that they were involved in a feud between the Daniel and Lyons crime clans.
He said: "We're not angels but we're not drug dealers.
"Because we're twins and we speak to people in the underworld, some people are trying to portray us as the Scottish Krays.
"We stand up to people face-to-face and occasionally get into fights but we use our hands.
"One story said I was in a wheelchair and another said I went out wearing suglasses and disguises. There's more truth in my daughter's Dora the Explorer books."
Gangland sources had blamed the attacks on a feud between rival crime clans that led to the fatal shooting of Kevin "Gerbil" Carroll outside an Asda store in January.
The twins were attacked three months after attending the funeral of Carroll, 29, in May.
James was first to be badly injured when a car he was a passenger in was rammed off the road in Stepps, near Glasgow.
A week later, Bryan was seriously injured when his Audi was forced into a wall and he was attacked by seven men in Maryhill.
Since the attacks on the twins, they claim they've been accused by officers of 10 revenge plots.
"The police have come to me seven times and told me they know I'm involved in planned retaliations while they've said the same to Bryan three times. I'm not a threat to anyone.
"I've never been questioned by police over what happened. They came to the hospital but the nurses advised them it wasn't in my interests to speak until I'd had a CT scan.
"They've never been back. I don't want to speak to them as I've nothing to tell them."
The 26-year-old brothers admit being childhood friends of Carroll - an enforcer with the Daniel clan - but they deny being involved in the long-running drugs war between the Daniel and Lyons families.
James said: "We've known Gerbil since we were 10 years old but have never had a problem with anyone he's had a problem with.
"It's absolute rubbish that we're involved with the Daniel family and we're angry at the lies being peddled.
"One report said that I was dating Gerbil's partner Kelly, which caused a lot of distress. I've got a fiancee and two kids."
He also dismissed reports that a power drill was used in the attack, adding: "I've no idea how many people attacked me but no-one used a drill on my head or anywhere else on my body. We're not involved in any feud with the Lyons."
Bryan suffered brain injuries in the August crash but is furious at claims that his manhood was "chopped off " and he was stabbed in the backside with a chisel.
He said: "I had a stab wound in my left hand and broken bones in my right. I've got a one-inch scar at the top of my groin where I was stabbed but nothing was chopped off . Put it this way, I'm fully intact.
"I've got three kids and younger brothers and sisters and it's terrible for them to hear this lie in the playground.
"Neither of us have been involved in any feud Gerbil may have had when he was alive, so why are we supposed to be now?
"We spoke to him when he was younger but we don't get involved with anyone's problems."
The twins - who were not paid by the Sunday Mail - claim they make a living from the motor trade.
James was convicted of possessing cocaine and cannabis in 2000 and 2003.
He spent nine months on remand after police found a gun and silencer stashed in a car in which he was a passenger in the city's Lambhill.
But he walked free from Glasgow High Court three years ago with a not proven verdict when the jury decided the gun did not belong to him.
James admits being a pal of Frances "Fraggle" Green, 29, and his sister Kelly, whose dad is scrapyard boss Jamie Daniel, 52.
James said: "I speak to Frances Green but I'm not involved in any crime war.
"One minute we're meant to be major drug dealers yet last week it was claimed I was stabbed in the head while buying £120 of cocaine up the Red Road flats.
"Another story said the reason I was attacked in August was because I held a gun to the head of a woman and threatened to shoot her as she was holding a baby. It's all fantasy."
They insist they have no idea why they were attacked.
James said: "Whoever these people were, they're cowards. It was seven on one and only after I'd been run over by a car."
Bryan said: "I suffered a brain injury because of the car crash, I didn't even know I was assaulted at the time.
"The police came to speak to me but I couldn't tell them anything of any substance as I was in a coma for four days and was on morphine. I don't know why we were attacked."
The twins' dad Jim Hanlon, who has seven other kids, said: "Some people have got us down as some big drug family but we're all sitting in council houses, not £500,000 houses."
Five men have been arrested over the attack on James. Three of them are due to stand trial at Airdrie Sheriff Court.
There have been no arrests over the attempted murder of Bryan. Police said yesterday: "Inquiries are ongoing."

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