The Drogheda feud now involves
senior
Dublin criminals,
and has
spread to a large group of criminals based not only in Drogheda, but
across the North- East
as well as in Dublin and in the countries prison system. The
men involved have also been active in a separate feud in Coolock, North-Dublin,
which claimed the lives of five men last year.
UPDATE: Wednesday/22/01/2020.
Senior officers prioritise before deciding where extra armed Gardaí are sent as, apart from Drogheda, violent gangland rows are ongoing in Dublin's Coolock, Finglas, Ballymun and Ronanstown as well as Roscommon-Longford, and Gardaí also need to maintain a strong, armed deployment to monitor the Kinahan-Hutch feud.
UPDATE ENDS:
UPDATE: Wednesday/22/01/2020.
Senior officers prioritise before deciding where extra armed Gardaí are sent as, apart from Drogheda, violent gangland rows are ongoing in Dublin's Coolock, Finglas, Ballymun and Ronanstown as well as Roscommon-Longford, and Gardaí also need to maintain a strong, armed deployment to monitor the Kinahan-Hutch feud.
UPDATE ENDS:
Gardaí suspect a botched murder attempt last week was done to
avenge the killing of Keane Mulready-Woods, even though the 17-year-old was not
confirmed dead at the time and none of his remains had been found. Mulready-Woods
was last seen alive in his native Drogheda on Sunday, January 12th at about
6pm. Gardaí believe he was killed in the town and dismembered that evening.
 |
| Keane Mulready-Woods (17) Murdered and Dismembered. Screen Grab Photo: |
However, the first of his remains was
not found until the following day – Monday, January 13th – at about 10pm in
Darndale, North Dublin.
There are also concerns that because the
Drogheda feud now involves senior Dublin criminals, feud attacks may occur in
the city.
Some associates of the key figures
involved in the feud are also currently imprisoned meaning feud attacks between
rival factions in prison are now also feared.
About 3½ hours before his limbs were
found in a bag, a gunman opened fire on a taxi being driven on the Bridge of
Peace in Drogheda; just before 6.30pm.
One of the feuding criminals was
travelling in the taxi as a passenger with his girlfriend and both managed to
flee from the car.
However, while they escaped uninjured
the taxi driver was wounded. The driver has no links to crime.
One line of inquiry into that shooting
is that associates of Mulready-Woods knew early on Monday he had been murdered.
It was not until about 3½ hours after
that botched murder bid on the taxi passenger on (Drogheda’s Bridge of Peace)
that limbs were found in a bag in Darndale. Those remains were not confirmed as
those of Mulready-Woods for a further two days.
Gardaí suspect in carrying out the
shooting on the evening of Monday, January 13th, the dead teenager’s associates
were trying to immediately avenge his murder, though he was still being treated
as a missing person at the time.
Another teenager, from Dublin, who knew
Mulready-Woods well, is also regarded as being at risk of being targeted next
in a feud attack. The young Dubliner is suspected of previously leading a group
assault on a gang leader from Dublin.
That gang leader is involved in the
Drogheda feud.
He was close to Richard Carberry, the
39-year-old drug dealer originally from Dublin who was shot dead as part of the
feud outside his home in Bettystown, Co Meath, last November.
In a
separate alleged incident, Gardaí working in
Drogheda Garda Station have been formally warned to be extra careful of their
safety.
It is after a car containing suspected gang
members followed an officer's car as he drove home.
It
happened just days before the brutal murder of Keane Mulready-Woods.
Garda
Derek O'Donoghue from the Garda Representative Association says it is very
intimidating.
"It's
constantly there at the back of your mind when we're working and living in the
communities it shows that we're not immune to things
"People
think that it is straightforward, that a guard does their business and then
goes home and there's no problems but there is.
"From
every garda's point of view, there is something always at the back of the mind
that they just have to be that bit extra careful at all times."
Garda
O'Donoghue said that the member involved in the incident has the support of his
colleagues, management, the employment assistance officer in Louth and the
Crime Prevention Office who can give him advice in relation to security.
UPDATE:
All Gardaí working in Drogheda garda station have been formally
warned to be extra vigilant of their safety after a car containing feuding gang
members followed an officer's car as he drove home.
The sinister incident happened just days
before Keane Mulready-Woods (17) was abducted and savagely murdered on Sunday
night of last week.
The same gang which is suspected of murdering
the tragic teenager is also suspected of attempting to follow the garda from
Drogheda town centre to his rural home after he finished work.
Sources told the Irish Independent that the Garda
noticed a "high-powered vehicle" following him and he reported it to
his colleagues, who sped to the scene on the outskirts of Drogheda.
Officers stopped the car and searched the
vehicle, as well as questioning its three male occupants.
All have links to the anti-Maguire side of the Drogheda feud,
which has been at war with paralysed gang boss Owen Maguire and his associates.
Two of the men have Dublin addresses and a
third is from Drogheda. Gardaí found nothing of evidential value in
their car and made no arrests.
However, the incident has sparked major
security concerns, and a senior officer emailed Gardaí to warn them to be extra
careful about their personal security.
Gardaí investigating the out-of-control feud
have previously been threatened.
In December 2018, detectives launched an
investigation after officers received "credible intelligence" that
criminals from the same gang were planning that two Gardaí involved in
investigating the Drogheda feud were to be shot dead in a sinister plot.
The threats were made in a phone call to
Cloverhill Prison, where a number of the feuding gangsters were on remand at
the time, after being charged in relation to feud-related incidents.
Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan said at the
time that any threats against any member of An Garda Síochána were
"utterly unacceptable".
Meanwhile, a close associate of feud murder
victim Keith Branigan is suspected of destroying evidence at the home where
gardaí believe Keane Mulready-Woods was murdered.
The home of the suspect, aged in his 50s, has
been searched as part of the investigation into the killing and dismemberment
of the teenager.
The home of the suspect, aged in his 50s, has
been searched as part of the investigation into the killing and dismemberment
of the teenager.
His remains were recovered in different parts
of Dublin last week but his torso has still not been found.
Gardaí believe they have identified the house
where he was murdered and have completed a forensic examination of the scene.
However, detectives suspect a man with close
links to murdered Keith Branigan helped the gang involved and destroyed vital
evidence in the aftermath of the crime.
Furniture belonging to the man was found burnt
in a green area close to his home, while burnt clothing was also recovered.
A source said the suspect was very closely
linked to Branigan.
"A large amount of evidence has been
recovered from this man's home and he is very much suspected of helping the
gang who carried out the murder.
"He has known links to the anti-Maguire
group and would be considered a trusted member of the crime group," the
source added.
Branigan (29) was the first fatality of the
Drogheda feud when he was gunned down in a caravan park in Clogherhead on
August 27.
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