Gangster claims one of Scotland’s most notorious gangland feuds began over stolen drug stash

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Gangster Ian “Blink” McDonald has claimed one of Scotland’s most notorious gangland feuds began over a stolen drug stash. The convicted bank robber said Paul Ferris, 58, asked him to sell a consignment worth tens of thousands of pounds which actually belonged to Arthur Thompson snr.

McDonald, 60, said the war between Ferris and Thompson, nicknamed The Godfather, began when the betrayal emerged.Ferris had been a trusted enforcer for the Glasgow crime kingpin who had links to London underworld bosses the Kray twins.But the pair fell out in the 1980s, resulting in a feud that resulted in several murders.McDonald said Ferris failed to “clue him up” that the drugs were Thompson’s.

His ex-pal Ferris was serving a prison sentence in Glasgow’s Barlinnie at the time, he claimed.However, Thompson found out about their deal and “summoned” McDonald to his home, dubbed the Ponderosa, in the city’s Provanmill.Ferris last night accused his former friend McDonald of “inventing” the claims.McDonald said: “He (Thompson) said, ‘Have you been to see Paul in prison?’.“I said, ‘Aye, I’ve been to see him’.

He said, ‘Did he give you anything or is he going to give you anything?’. “Paul’s not clued me up ... or I’d have just smothered it.