The life and crimes of Mr Big

HE’S 27 and controls one of the biggest drugs networks in the country.

However, Limerick’s Mr Big is as much known for his flamboyant lifestyle as he is for his criminal prowess.

Currently on remand in a London jail, he flew a leading Irish folk band to England before Christmas to entertain guests at a lavish Christening party for his newborn twin sons.

As the net closes in on him for his role in the murder of Limerick security man, Brian Fitzgerald, more details of the life and extravagant times of the international drugs dealer have emerged.

When he was arrested in London and found carrying a gun, he was in the company of a member of the notorious Jamaican gang known as The Yardies.

With his connections to the Yardies and an extended Limerick family spread around a number of English cities, Mr Big was able to oversee and manage one of the biggest drug channels into this country for the past three years with the help of former Limerick publican, Jim ‘Chaser’ O’Brien - who is under arrest in Belgium - and a Clare businessman, who looks after business in Ireland.

The Yardies have unlimited access to all kinds of weapons and were also able to supply Mr Big’s operatives in Limerick with the most powerful and up-to- date automatic weaponry.

At one point, Mr Big sent a number of his gang to the US to practice firing automatic weapons on rifle ranges after they failed to kill another top Limerick criminal in a machine gun attack, even though he was hit by 14 bullets.

The 27-year-old is an only son, with up to 40 uncles and cousins in England. He has always had a liking for the finer things in life. His last big celebration was organised to mark the Christening party for the twin sons his common law wife gave birth to in England.

One of Ireland’s top folk groups were flown over to entertain guests at the private function in a top hotel. Then, Mr Big was never one to scrimp.

He was made head of a huge extended family at the tender age of 20 by his grandfather who moved into the city centre 50 years ago.

The original home was in the centre of Limerick, but the family then moved to Hyde Road when the big corporation housing estate was built there in the 1960s.

The family had a hierarchy similar to that as the mafia with a father figure, who was obeyed and respected like a Don. It was expected that Mr Big’s father would be next in line to be crowned head of the family.

But on his deathbed in 1998, the grandfather, know as The Man, summoned his 20-year-old grandson to his detached home on the outskirts of Limerick and announced to the surprise of many that he was the chosen one.

“The grandfather always had a huge regard for his young grandson. He saw special qualities in him and took the decision to bypass his eldest son in preference for his grandson,” said one source. Even at such a young age Mr Big’s position as head of the family bequeathed enormous power and wealth.

A drugs network was gradually established in Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, London and other cities where most of his seven uncles had settled.

One of his first acquisitions was a his-and-her set of top-of-the-range BMWs for himself and his then girlfriend, the mother of his four young children.

They lived at that time in a corporation house in Ballinacurra Weston, but later moved into a luxury flat. A source said: “He liked to dress flash. He went around in white tracksuits a lot of the time.”

Foreign travel was also very much on his agenda. His interest in boxing drew him to New York’s Madison Square garden where he was a regular attendee on big fight nights.

Mr Big never held down a regular job and only tasted the inside of a prison cell only once up to recently when he was remanded on for a week in Limerick prison some years ago.

A prison source said: “He could not hack it at all. It was totally alien to him. He found the environment dirty and awful and certainly not up to the comforts of life he had grown accustomed to.”

It was his hatred of jail that eventually led him to order the murder of nightclub security man Brian Fitzgerald three years ago.

He had threatened to kill Fitzgerald for barring his drugs dealers into Doc’s nightclub.

Mr Big feared if Brian Fitzgerald went to court, a suspended sentence hanging over him from Limerick Circuit Court would be activated. With Mr Fitzgerald out of the way, so was the likelihood of a stint in jail. With the help of his close associates, a deal was struck with James Martin Cahill to murder Brian Fitzgerald for €10,000.

When Mr Big became a prime suspect in the murder investigation he moved to England to avoid the heat. Limerick gardaí alerted their English counterparts of Mr Big’s role in shipping drugs from the continent, via the Britain in to Ireland. Up to recent weeks, he managed to keep ahead of the posse.

Now he is facing a gun charge and with James Martin Cahill, singing like the proverbial canary, the DPP is expected to proceed with a murder charge against Mr Big in relation to the Brian Fitzgerald killing.

The Clare businessmen is also feeling the heat, fearing he too will be implicated in the Fitzgerald murder.