This was the escape plan of shooter after double murder at Irish pub in Fuengirola: an appearance change and three countries in less than 24 hours

Just by looking at the video from the security cameras at Monaghan's Irish bar in Fuengirola, it was clear to Spain's National Police investigators that they were dealing with a professional. A hitman sent to execute Scottish men Ross Monaghan and Eddie Lyons Jr, both from the Lyons clan, which has been at war with the rival Daniels clan for years.

The images showed that the gunman had not only nerves of steel, but also great skill in handling weapons. On the night of 31 May, the perpetrator approached the table the victims were sharing with the wife of one of them and shot Eddie Lyons in the neck, causing his instant death.

He then attempted to shoot at his second target, but the gun jammed. Ross Monaghan took advantage of the situation to flee into the premises - located next to Costa del Sol town's busy promenade - looking for a place to hide or an emergency exit.

Far from being deterred or fleeing without accomplishing his goal, the perpetrator unholstered the gun and proceeded with the plan: he chased Monaghan into the restaurant while the waiters ran to hide behind the bar and pulled the trigger again. Ross died before he could reach the bathrooms. The hitman then made his own way out of the restaurant.

The police investigations, carried out by the Udyco-Costa del Sol serious crime squad, with the support of the Greco and the UDEV of Fuengirola, allowed the suspect to be identified in a very short time. From there, the officers focused on retracing the steps of his escape plan.

According to sources, the suspect - a 44-year-old UK national - took a number of precautions to avoid being recognised: he shaved his face and head to become someone the police didn't know.

Then, he crossed over to Portugal, knowing that he would be in less danger if he avoided Spanish airports. In less than 24 hours, he set foot in three countries: Spain, where he carried out the double murder; Portugal, where he took a plane; and the UK, where he landed and where he had the infrastructure to hide.

Once in England, the suspect kept changing his address to make locating him more difficult, but not even these precautions were enough to prevent his arrest. Only 13 days after the murders and thanks to the investigations of the Spanish police, the suspect was arrested by virtue of an international warrant issued by the Fuengirola court investigating the case.

The UK authorities consider the victims to be two ringleaders of the Lyons clan, having operated from the upper echelons of the organisation. For this reason, the investigators are concerned that there might be an escalation of violence because of this case, both in Scotland and Spain.

The Spanish investigation had no trouble identifying them, although the victims didn't have documents on them at the time of their death - their past spoke loud enough. The police were also aware that there had previously been a murder attempt that Ross Monaghan had managed to avoid by fleeing to the Costa del Sol.

It happened on the morning of 16 January 2017, when Monaghan was dropping his daughter off outisde St George's Primary School in Penilee, Glasgow. The hitman back then had disguised himself as a father pushing a pram in an attempt to blend with the parents. When he reached his target, he pulled the trigger twice, but Monaghan was wearing a bulletproof vest. One of the bullets hit him in the shoulder.

Three days later, the victim was seen at Glasgow Airport about to board a flight to Malaga. His past continued to haunt him. Ross Monaghan had been charged with the murder of Kevin 'Gerbil' Carroll - a member of the rival Daniels clan. Carrol was shot 13 times in a supermarket car park in Robroyston - a suburb of Glasgow - in 2012. His murder went unpunished, at least in the eyes of justice.

The other victim of the Fuengirola double murder, Eddie Lyons Jr, had also been the victim of another shooting incident in which he was injured in 2010, just days before Carroll's murder. According to the BBC, the Fuengirola double murder comes amid a series of assaults, shootings and firebombings in Glasgow and Edinburgh that have led to more than 30 arrests since March this year.