Gardaí fear reprisals after crime boss shot dead

GARDAÍ are bracing themselves for further gang violence after one of the country’s top crime bosses was gunned down.

Two gunmen were waiting for Michael Kelly when they shot him at an apartment complex at Clongriffin in north county Dublin yesterday.

The attackers moved in when they saw Kelly exiting an apartment block at Marrsfield at about 1.15pm.

The 30 year old was walking towards a waiting car, driven by a friend, who had just arrived.

He was shot at least three times and died at the scene.

Gardaí were last night waiting to talk to the friend who was driving the car.

Gardaí believe the attackers escaped in a silver Micra car. A car matching that description was found nearby not burnt out and forensic tests are being conducted.

Kelly, a convicted drug dealer from Kilbarrack, north Dublin, was a top target for several Garda units.

He imported huge consignments of drugs into the country, which were then divided up among other gangs across Dublin. He was a target of the Criminal Assets Bureau and last December was forced in the High Court to surrender a house in Co Meath and two cars after they were deemed to be the proceeds of crime.

He was also a suspect in relation to at least three murders.

Gardaí had warned him his life was in danger. He has spent much of his time abroad, in Spain and Holland, and had only recently returned home.

A major garda operation has been put in place and detectives are drawing up a list of possible enemies.

They are thought to include criminals from Kelly’s home area in Kilbarrack. They are suspected of having previously targeted members of his gang.

These criminals, including two brothers, are among suspects for the double murder of innocent men at a Finglas petrol station last November. Glen Murphy, 19, and Mark Noonan, 23, were mistaken for two criminals working for Kelly.

The feud between this gang and Kelly’s outfit is believed to stem from an internal gang row, thought to have started over the proceeds of a security van robbery seven years ago.

Also on the list of suspects are a group of hitmen from west Dublin who Kelly is thought to have hired to killed two senior members of his gang.

David Lindsay, 39, and Alan Napper, 38, vanished in July 2008 and were last seen in Clane, Co Kildare.

There were reports that Kelly declined to pay the hitmen the agreed amount and they, in turn, made the crime boss a target.

Kelly was also linked to the murder of drug dealer Anthony Foster in Kilmore, north Dublin, in July 2008.