Glasgow gangster killed in car crash on Costa del Sol

A notorious member of the Glasgow underworld who was a key player in the turf war between rival security firms was among six people killed in a head-on collision in Spain.

Stewart Boyd, 40, was one of four Britons in the same car who died when it crashed through a central barrier and hit another vehicle at Mijas, near Malaga, on Saturday. His companions, Nicola Gavin and Louise Ann Douglas, both 21, were killed with three-year-old Helen Williams.

The Foreign Office said the relationship between the four was not known but they were all from Glasgow. Two Spaniards, including a 13-year-old boy, were also killed in the accident at about 11.30am.

What Mr Boyd was doing in Spain was not known. Former business acquaintances are believed to live there including Paul Johnston, aformer policeman and security firm boss who disappeared last year and who is thought to have gone into hiding after a contract was reportedly taken out on his life.

Spanish reports suggested that the car burst into flames after it crashed across the road and hit the other car travelling in the opposite direction.

A spokeswoman for the Foreign Office said: "Their next of kin have been informed and local police are investigating."

A neighbour said yesterday: "I know about it, but I'm not saying anything."

Mr Boyd, nicknamed Specky, had a criminal record stretching back more than 20 years and came out of prison for the last time in 2002.

Before he was jailed, Mr Boyd worked for a security firm that ran up huge debts before closing, and then reopened under a new name. He was also linked to a firm that touted for trade on a residential estate just before the area was vandalised.

He was also believed to have looked after the distribution network of the south Glasgow drug baron John Healy, who was jailed in 1997 for his part in a cannabis smuggling ring.

In 1997, Mr Boyd was cleared of murdering gangster Mark Rennie, 26, in a carefully planned ambush near the victim's home in Paisley.

Two years ago he was given an 18-months sentence for intimidating a trial witness.

Mr Boyd admitted threatening another security firm boss to try to stop him from giving evidence in the extortion trial of the gangster Lewis Rodden, who also had links with the industry.

He found John Jeffrey in a witness room and warned him not to identify the defendant or "things will happen to you". He added: "After this case, we'll do you."

The two men were said to know each other through their links with the industry. After the case, bullets were fired at Mr Jeffrey's home.

The extortion charge against Mr Rodden was found not proven but a month after Mr Boyd was jailed, Mr Rodden was shot in an Amsterdam bar crowded with Celtic football fans before a European match, supposedly in a gangland row. Mr Rodden survived.

Criminals in Scotland have moved into the security industry. Many firms are used as a front for money laundering and drug dealing. Rivalry between gangs has led to shootings and arson attacks.

The Security Industry Authority was set up two years ago to regulate the business and to issue licences for those working in it. When the system is working fully, within three years, it will check companies and employees in an attempt to weed out those with recent criminal convictions.