The prosecution evidence against them rested on three main pieces of evidence: A witness, William Love, stated that he had overheard Campbell, Steele, and others in a bar discussing how they would teach “Fat Boy” Doyle a lesson by setting fire to his house. READ MORE: Death in Paradise Christmas special set to return to TV screens, here's all you need to know Along with Steele, contributors include Archie McDougall, manager of one of Glasgow’s biggest ice cream businesses; writer & campaigner Douglas Skelton; crime author Denise Mina; and lawyers John Carroll and Aamer Anwar, amongst others. In Glasgow, in the 1980s neither the Police nor the Public could understand why grown men were fighting over the rights to sell ice cream, the violence was extreme, and the streets of the housing estates were turned into war zones. Crowds of youths gathered on the street corners, while adults hung from their flat windows watching real-life scenes far more exciting than anything they could see on TV the smashing of Ice cream vans and cars, slashings and stabbings of rival Ice cream men were a nightly occurrence. And the reason behind the violence was that you could earn more money selling Ice cream than you could from selling drugs. Before his death in 2019, Thomas Campbell called for a fresh investigation of the murder of the Doyle family, and has accused crime boss Tam McGraw of the murders.

After initial inaction, several arrests were made and six people were eventually charged and convicted for offences related to the gang crimes. TC claimed he was “fitted up” by cops and Love who, he said, had agreed to testify in exchange for staying out of jail.

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Using ice cream vans to peddle drugs became more and more profitable, leading to gangsters becoming protective over their patches. If there was any awkward moral to the story, it was as Mina says: “The legal system is the best bad system we have.” A look at Russia The driver, who worked for the Marchetti brothers, refused to be intimidated into selling drugs, even after he was shot at through his windscreen by an unidentified criminal. March 2004: Campbell's and Steele's convictions are quashed by the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh.

After conviction, Campbell and Steele tried to have their conviction overturned in 1989, but failed. Several years later, in 1992, journalists Douglas Skelton and Lisa Brownlie wrote a book, Frightener, about the conflicts and the trial. They interviewed Love for the book, who stated, and later signed affidavits attesting, that he had lied under oath. In Love's own words: "I did so because it suited my own selfish purposes. The explanation as to why I gave evidence is this: The police pressurised me to give evidence against Campbell, who they clearly believed was guilty of arranging to set fire to Doyle's house." [1] [3] Two innocent men were later tried and banged up for the killings and would spend two decades protesting their innocence. The pair were convicted of murder despite doubts over the strength of the evidence against them. December 1998: Scottish Secretary Donald Dewar rejects a petition to refer the case to the appeal court again. Violent incidents involving the use of baseball bats, knives and even firearms became alarmingly common as the situation heated up.Campbell later said that he was “fitted up” and was told to testify in exchange for staying out of jail. Murder victim Andrew Doyle was an 18-year-old driver for the Marchetti brothers. (Image: Daily Record) Read More Related Articles July 2000: The new Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission goes to court to request all Crown documents.

No one has been convicted of Billy McPhee's murder. Five weeks after the Brewers' Fayre slaughter Paul Ferris's handyman, Tam McGraw's assailant, Mark Clinton, was arrested and charged with it. Just over a year later it came to trial, but the prosecution threw in the towel after one day. The evidence of the two crucial witnesses to the murder had somehow become unreliable and unsafe. In April 1984 it was decided Andrew needed another “frightener” to get him to play ball. So in the early hours of 16 April someone drenched the front door of the Doyle family home in Ruchazie with petrol and set it alight. Joe Steele and Thomas ‘TC’ Campbell were found guilty of the murders as a witness claims he heard the two discussing how they would teach Andrew Doyle a lesson by setting fire to his house.

The city was divided into North Glasgow, South Glasgow and East Glasgow. East Glasgow had the most identified gangs with 41 followed by South Glasgow with 38 and North Glasgow with 31. The districts with the overall greatest number of gangs were Greater Pollok with 11, Govan with 10 and Drumchapel with 9. Secretary of State for Scotland Michael Forsyth grants interim freedom to Campbell and Steele, pending a second appeal. The Ice Cream Wars will form part of BBC Scotland’s autumn schedule. Details will be announced nearer the time. Featuring testimony from police officers, members of the ice cream business, reporters from the eighties and eyewitnesses, the first episode also hears from Joe Steele – one of the men convicted of the Doyle family murders.