Motive sought for gun killing

GARDAÍ yesterday began identifying and interviewing every person who met Stephen Ledden in the days leading up to his murder, in Dublin’s north inner city early, on Wednesday morning.

Senior officers are trying to unravel a motive behind the murder — the 27th gun death this year — and to uncover the identity of likely killers.

Detectives are examining whether Mr Ledden — the father of a two-month-old baby — was shot dead in retaliation for the murder of Gerard Byrne, in the same area, on December 13.

The two deaths are thought to be part of a violent feud between two extended families in the locality.

Detectives are investigating whether Mr Ledden was the intended target of a revenge attack or was mistakenly killed.

It has been suggested that the 28-year-old may have been killed when his attacker could not find the intended target and shot him instead.

Sources in the community suspect that he might have been killed simply because the Ledden family was related to one of the feuding families.

The feud, it has been claimed, stems from the alleged rape of a member of one of the families by a leading member of the other family.

The other family is one of the largest suppliers of drugs in the locality and headed by a violent and feared criminal, aged in his 40s.

A key member of the family — which has been targeted by the North Central Drugs Unit and the Criminal Assets Bureau — was shot dead in recent years.

At least four families are embroiled in the feud in some way, leading to fears of an escalation in the violence.