Collins urges solicitor to report court gang assault

THE father of murdered Limerick businessman Roy Collins called on solicitor John Devane to stand up to the leading McCarthy Dundon gang member who assaulted him at Limerick Courthouse and file a formal complaint against the gang leader.

Limerick publican Steve Collins, whose son was gunned down on April 9 on the orders of the notorious McCarthy Dundon gang, said: “If people in the legal profession don’t stand up to these people, how can anyone expect the rest of us to do it. These people don’t let go. If he has a problem with them, it’s there to stay. So what do you do? You go for the protection of the State.”

Mr Collins said his family had stood up to the gang from day one.

He added: “I suppose he’s scared. It can all happen from a simple thing and escalate out of control. We’ve stood up to them from day one. Ours was a different set of circumstances.”

Mayor of Limerick Kevin Kiely has already called on Mr Devane to formally lodge a complaint against the leading member of the McCarthy Dundon gang who assaulted him in a corridor at Limerick courthouse at around 10.30am on Wednesday in front of shocked witnesses.

According to one eye witness, the gangster approached Mr Devane, grabbed him about the neck and knocked him to the ground.

Uniformed gardaí on duty in the courthouse alerted the armed Regional Support Unit, which was on the scene in minutes as a stand-off developed between gardaí and a group of known McCarthy Dundon gang members who gathered at the front door of the courthouse.

Mayor Kiely said last night he wanted to echo the call on Mr Devane to file a formal complaint.

He said: “As Mayor of Limerick I want to say that there is nobody above the law in this town and nobody is untouchable.”

He said if solicitor Mr Devane does not make a complaint to gardaí, he will lose all credibility.

Mr Devane was at the centre of a recent controversy when he admitted sending a text to the late Noel Campion, who was murdered in 2007, telling him that another client in custody was remaining quiet in relation to an alleged offence.

Mr Devane said then he wasn’t giving away State secrets and had sent the text message at the request of a client who was in fear of his life. His comments followed a claim by Limerick State Solicitor Michael Murray about unnamed solicitors passing on intelligence to criminals.