A GUN-nut biker who torched a rival’s dad’s work van with a pipe bomb as a motorcycle gang feud exploded has been jailed for nine years.
Mad Dogs chief Dan Laponder, 43, admitted blowing up the BT vehicle amid bad blood with his old Blue Angels crew.
He earlier admitted the attack before appearing today in court via a video link to learn his fate at the High Court in Glasgow.
John Scullion KC told the court his client had engaged positively with the author of a criminal social work report.
He noted Laponder’s version of events matched the circumstances described by the Crown at an earlier hearing in September when the biker pleaded guilty.
Mr Scullion said: “He has accepted full responsibility for his actions and it is now fair to say he bitterly regrets his involvement.
“He feels a sense of relief that this chapter of his life is coming to a close.”
Mr Scullion went on to say his client had been in full time employment for most of his life.
He added: “He can return to employment and make a positive contribution to society and that is what he intends to do.”
We told how the heavily tattooed brute, seen posing with a sawn-off shotgun, was nailed after his fingerprints were found on water bottles and duct tape used to make the device.
Tensions had risen after Laponder quit the notorious gang – described as “Europe’s oldest outlaw biker club” – in a breakaway move, the court heard.
He destroyed the BT OpenReach Vauxhall Vivaro used by Blue Angels member David Rollo’s father near his home on June 8.
We told how neighbours were taken to a community centre after cops rushed to the blast in Lennoxtown, Dunbartonshire.
They found the makeshift bomb made up of “bottles, wires and an apparent electrical component with a battery compartment”, advocate depute Lorraine Glancy KC said.
She added: “The device was a pipe bomb which had been detonated.”
Officers came across a Facebook post featuring Laponder and another man with a Range Rover, which was spotted on doorbell footage near the attack scene.
Another post from the day of the attack was captioned: “Hooked up with this reprobate today, interesting stuff.”
Cops raided the garage used by the pair and found remotes used in the attack.
Laponder, who stayed on a barge in nearby Kirkintilloch, claimed his pals’ motorbikes had been set alight. When quizzed, he told cops: “Link the dots. We are getting attacked all the time.”
Mr Scullion KC told the court: “Motorcycles belonging to friends of Mr Laponder were set on fire. A group of motorcyclists attended Mr Laponder’s home and threatened him with violence. Events described were in response.
“The vehicle was chosen due to its distance from properties.”
Laponder, who has convictions for driving offences and served time in an English jail for violence, admitted wilfully setting fire to the van and possession of a prohibited gun.
Blue Angels bike mob
By Graham Mann
THE Blue Angels gang was formed in Maryhill, Glasgow, in 1963 and claims to be Scotland’s oldest biker mob.
The “Blue” is claimed to stand for B*****ds, Lunatics Undesirables and Eccentrics and the group has been linked to a string of violent attacks in the past.
We told how biker Ian Ewing was caged for seven years in 2020 for savage attacks on four rivals including one attempted murder.
Ewing, 48, smashed his motor into Colin Sutherland’s bike and tried to kill him when he fell off the machine.
The brute and others also battered a further three bikers with weapons including a hammer, tyre iron and baseball bat in the terrifying ambush near Cullen, Moray.
Judge Lady Scott told Ewing: “This was a brutal and planned attack. You and others attacked the victims on the road with weapons. There is no clear explanation for this attack.”
Ewing’s trial at Edinburgh’s High Court was previously shown shocking footage of the onslaught on members of the Nomads gang in September 2018.
Ewing’s trial heard cops later found a top bearing the name of the Blue Angels biker mob in his car.
Lord Athurson noted the positive aspect of the criminal social work report but also took into consideration the assessment Laponder posed a “high risk” of reoffending.
Taking everything into account, he concluded there was no alternative but to impose a substantial period of custody.
He added: “The background circumstances to these offences are somewhat bizarre stemming as they do from a feud between the Blue Angles and the Mad Dogs which was set up by you after you left the Blue Angels.”
He imposed five years for the willful fire-raising offence and four for the firearms offence to run consecutively and back-dated to July this year.
We told how Laponder’s brother hacked a fellow Sons of Hell rider’s head with a meat cleaver.
David Laponder, 39, left Daniel Gibbons bleeding in the street before fleeing on his Harley-Davidson.
Pictures showed heavily tattooed thug Dan with his arm around brute David, who was locked up for 11 years in 2020.