Shot man may have been targeted by dealer

GARDAÍ are investigating claims a man shot twice in the back at close range in front of children may have been targeted by a drug dealer.

Brendan Cox, aged 40, died almost instantly after receiving two blasts from a shotgun to his lower back in the Ballyfermot area of South Dublin on Sunday. His assassin callously gunned the father-of-two down just yards from where a number of children were playing on Clifden Drive in Cherry Orchard at around 7.15pm.

Mr Cox, who lived in nearby Cleggen Road, was walking his dog when targeted.