Government pledges to rush through gun crime legislation

MAJOR criminal justice legislation will be rushed through the Dáil this summer in response to the latest handgun murder in Dublin, the 13th involving firearms this year.

The Cabinet decided yesterday that the final stages of the Criminal Justice Bill will be debated in the Dáil and Seanad next week, some weeks ahead of schedule. A spokesman said the Government was determined the bill — which contains robust provisions on so-called gangland crime and firearms — will become law before the end of summer.

Amid opposition criticism of the latest spate of gangland crime, the Justice Minister Michael McDowell briefed Cabinet colleagues yesterday about the killing in the early hours of Monday morning, where James Perdue, aged 22, was shot dead as he returned to his flat in Donaghmede, north Dublin.