Get the stories that matter to you sent straight to your inbox with our daily newsletter. Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

GANGLAND thugs armed with chisels chopped off a young man's penis in a gruesome attack beside a main road.

The attack on Bryan Hanlon, 26, came a week after his twin brother James had holes bored in his head with a power drill in another targeted underworld assault. Police are horrified by the brazen nature of both attacks and the savage violence used.

The Hanlon twins were both close pals of murdered gangland enforcer Kevin "Gerbil" Carroll.

As well as the grisly injuries to his private parts, Bryan, 26, was left with multiple fractures and severe he ad injuries. He is critically ill in hospital.

It's understood he also suffered injuries to his back passage, inflicted by a chisel.

Bryan was driving on Maryhill Road in Glasgow at 11.30pm on Sunday when he was run off the road by a silver BMW 5 Series and a dark-coloured 4x4.

His Audi S4 estate hit a wall and he was hauled out.

Up to seven thugs, armed with chisels and hammers, took part in the attack .

Police are treating it as at tempted murder. Chief Inspector Graham Clarke said: "There is no doubt that , going by the ferocity of the attack, the intent was to kill this young man.

"People who saw this may be thinking these were boy racers or it was a road rage incident.

"But this was a really violent and horrific assault, and we are real ly keen to speak to anyone who may have seen these cars on Maryhill Road.

"We don't think this was a random act. It was targeted and there was a reason for it.

"We need to piece together what happened and get these people locked up. As the days go on, we will look at if this is connected to something else."

Mr Clarke warned associates of Hanlon not to try to retaliate. He said: "We will be looking closely at the poor man who was the subject of this horrendous attack, and his associates.

"If we believe anyone may be trying to take any form of revenge, we will take robust action against them."

A man who was with Bryan in his car escaped with minor injuries.

The tactics used in the assault were strikingly similar to the ambush on Hanlon's brother .

James Hanlon, driving a silver Vauxhall Vectra, was tailed for four miles by thugs in a black Audi A4 convertible before the attackers rammed his car. The Vectra was then hit again, by thugs in a red Ford Focus who had been waiting in a lane.

Six men, armed with power drills, hammers and chisels, piled out of the two cars and chased James.

He tried to run but was pinned down at the roadside. The gang then drilled a hole in his head .

Brazenly, they attacked in daylight, at around 7.50pm.

It's believed James, who is recovering. survived because passing drivers called 999. The attackers left their cars and fled the scene in Cumbernauld Road, Stepps, near Glasgow.

Carroll, a feared enforcer for the Daniel crime clan, was gunned down in front of terrified shoppers at an Asda store in Robroyston, Glasgow, in January. The Hanlon twins attended his funeral.