A MAJOR crime gang branded the “most sophisticated” in Scotland has been jailed for a total of 87 years.

The nine-strong mob was locked up for their dealings in drugs, firearms, serious violence and dirty money.

The list of crimes included the "merciless" torture of a man over an unpaid cocaine debt and a huge arsenal of weapons found hidden in a car.

Members of the clan today returned to the High Court in Glasgow having earlier pled guilty to various charges.

Lord Beckett praised the authorities' “extraordinary ingenuity, courage and commitment” in catching the gang.

David Sell, 50, was handed the biggest jail-term - 15 years and eight months - for his part in the abduction and torture of a known drug dealer.

Barry O'Neill, 37, was locked up for seven years and four months for cocaine supply.

Anthony Woods, 44,– described as the “electronics expert” for the mob – got 11 years and one month after he pled guilty to having roles in “serious organised crime”

Francis Mulligan, 41, was jailed for eight years and 324 days while Michael Bowman, 30, seven years for the same charge.

Gerard Docherty, 42, was locked up for 10 years and six months after a shooting at a house in Edinburgh.

Mark Richardson, 30, was hit with a eight year, nine month sentence and Steven McArdle, 33, seven years and 100 days after they were each caught with Glock handguns.

Finally, ex-army war veteran Martyn Fitzsimmons, 37, was locked up for 10 and a half years for having a similar weapon as well as ammo and £36,000 of dirty money.

The court heard how Robert Allan became a target after he could not pay a £30,000 drug debt.

He had earlier met with Barry O'Neill in Glasgow in connection with a large cocaine haul.

Mr Allan later fled Scotland when he was unable to stump up payment - but was tracked to Barnsley, Yorkshire in March 2015.

David Sell turned up at his door with two other armed men before ending up horrifically attacked.

Mr Allan was initially driven hostage to a industrial unit in Fauldhouse, Midlothian,

He was whipped with a thick chain, smacked with a metal bar and left with a broken leg after he was battered with a 14-pound sledgehammer.

He was shot in the knees and ordered to roll down a hill.

Police also focused on premises and cars used by the mob.

Stolen high-performance cars - including two £85,000 Audi RS6 motors as well as a £30,000 Volkswagen Golf – were used as “getaway” vehicles.

They also had “distinctive encrypted” mobile phones to communicate as well as fake facial hair and wigs to use as disguises.

The hearing was told the group used “counter surveillance and anti surveillance tactics” including specialist “signal jammers”

Detectives made a discovery of a massive haul of deadly firearms at a lock-up in Anniesland in early 2017.

They were hidden in a “engineered compartment” of the rear bumper of a Honda CRV car.

The consignment included Glocks, a Beretta, sub machine guns, a grenade and bullets.