Retired garda detective claims ‘Dutchy’ plotted to assassinate him

A FORMER senior garda claims the late gangland criminal Patrick “Dutchy” Holland had plotted to kill him in a violent act of revenge.

Retired detective Gerry O’Carroll has revealed that he feared the armed robber and hitman, who died in a British prison last Friday, would carry out a threat to assassinate him.

Mr O’Carroll, a former head of the Garda Murder Squad, claims his life was threatened by the man believed to have fired the gun that killed investigative journalist, Veronica Guerin in 1996.

“I firmly believe he intended to kill me,” said Mr O’Carroll.

The Kerry-born detective expressed concern that Holland, who was never charged with Ms Guerin’s murder, was plotting to kill him upon his release from Portlaoise Prison in 2006 in revenge for his mistreatment by gardaí during his criminal past.

“He had sued me and the word was that if he didn’t succeed in one way, he would go about it another way,” said Mr O’Carroll.

“He would take the ultimate route. That’s the kind of guy he was.”

Holland, 70, was found dead in his cell in Parkhurst Prison on the Isle of Wight last Friday.

It is believed that Holland, who was serving an eight-year prison sentence for his role in a plot by a British criminal gang to seek a £10m ransom for kidnapping a businessman, died from natural causes linked to a heart condition.

In a number of media interviews over the weekend, Mr O’Carroll revealed his long-running association with the career criminal and fears for his safety when Holland was at liberty.

Mr O’Carroll first became aware of the former US marine in the 1970s when he was suspected of carrying out a number of single-handed bank robberies in Dublin.

He was also involved in the arrest of Holland for the murder of builder Patrick Shanahan in 1994, even though he now believes that Holland was framed by other gangsters and was actually innocent of that crime.

The former garda described the cold-blooded killer as “a natural born killer” with “ice water in his veins”.

Mr O’Carroll also claimed that Holland’s family background in Inchicore was “middle class and pampered”.

“He was the original kid with the silver spoon,” he said.

The detective’s claims about Holland’s assassination threat were also confirmed by the criminal’s legal representative, Giovanni Di Stefano. The Italian, who has been refused recognition as a lawyer by the Irish courts, said Holland was prepared to spend the rest of his life behind bars for the crime.

He claimed Holland was incensed by the fact that his late wife Angela had been arrested as part of the inquiry that led to his drugs conviction in 1997.

It is understood that Holland’s body will be flown back to Ireland later this week for burial in Dublin.