Father of two killed in front of his partner as he lay in bed

GARDAÍ suspect that a father of two who was murdered in front of his girlfriend over the weekend was not the victim of a gangland killing.

Initial indications suggest the brutal shotgun attack may have been the result of a row over an assault on a woman, which the killers are also thought to have carried out.

Michael Scott, 25, was shot in his bed as he lay beside his partner, after two men forced their way into his flat in Ballymun, north Dublin, at 3.15am on Saturday.

The men, one armed with a shotgun and the other with a sword, kicked in the door of the flat, which is in a high-rise complex on Sillogue Road.

His two children were asleep in an adjoining bedroom at the time.

The murder follows six fatal gun attacks already this year, five of them involving Dubliners.

The six other murders are the result of gangland disputes over drugs or money.

Gardaí based at nearby Santry Garda Station were in the second day of a major investigation yesterday.

Mr Scott’s girlfriend was described as being in a traumatised state, and was not in a position to give details to gardaí.

“The girl in the flat, with two young children, is in a terribly shocked state after losing her partner,” said a garda spokesman.

He said gardaí had commenced an investigation and were conducting inquiries at the high-rise complex and among local taxi drivers, who may have been around at that time.

It is not yet known whether the attackers were masked or not, and gardaí don’t have a description of the killers.

Garda ballistics and forensics experts were carrying out examinations yesterday.

Gardaí also intend to investigate reports that Mr Scott had been involved in a row with a drug dealer in nearby Finglas, who had apparently assaulted a woman he knew.

Scott, who was also from Finglas, did not have a criminal record, although he was known to gardaí.

Local councillor Eamonn O’Brien said the murder was particularly horrific, given that the man’s girlfriend and children were present at the time.

Meanwhile, a man who was left in a critical condition after an assault on Dublin’s Grafton Street last week was still fighting for his life last night.

Three men, including two top tennis stars, gave voluntary statements to gardaí in relation to the assault on Barry Duggan.

Gardaí said yesterday the matter was still under investigation and stressed no one had yet been charged.

In a separate investigation, gardaí believe drug dealer Paul Ryan, who was murdered in Co Offaly over a week ago, was killed on the orders of a notorious gang based in Blanchardstown, west Dublin, over a heroin deal.