Arrests after feud attacks

THREE men were arrested yesterday after two violent incidents linked to a deadly Dublin feud.

The three were taken into custody in connection with a savage attack on a man in Dublin’s north inner city shortly before 9am.

The victim was understood to be walking his children to school when at least two unmasked men violently assaulted him.

The assault came just 40 minutes after a man was shot at his rented home in Swords, north county Dublin. He was hit at least twice, but managed to escape being killed.

Gardaí are linking both incidents to a vicious feud in Dublin’s north inner city. Both the victims and the suspected assailants are from either side of the feud.

The bloody Sheriff Street feud stems from a split in a gang led by crime boss Christy Griffin. The split occurred after it emerged that Griffin had raped his partner’s daughter while she was a child.

Five men have been murdered as part of the feud, which first erupted in deadly violence six years ago.

In the first incident yesterday, a close associate of Griffin’s was returning to his rented home at Boroimhe Cedars in Swords at around 8.10am. Gardaí said a number of gunmen were waiting for him and as the victim went to open his front door, his attackers closed on him and opened fire. He managed to open his door but the gunmen fired further shots. At least five shots were fired, and two hit the 31-year-old victim, in the arm and in the leg.

He escaped by climbing out the back garden. By this stage the gunmen had fled.

He was brought to hospital, but his injuries are not life threatening. The attack on Sheriff Street happened just 40 minutes later. That man was also hospitalised.