Shooting victim was cousin of dead drug dealer

A young man gunned down in a gangland-style attack close to his home last weekend was related to a drug dealer killed in a double hit, it has emerged.

Jamie Lindsay was shot in the head as he walked in the Coneyboro estate in Athy, Co Kildare, shortly before 9pm on Saturday.

The 20-year-old was a cousin of David “Babyface” Lindsay who disappeared almost five years ago with his associate, Alan Napper.

Gardaí believe both men were lured to their deaths but their bodies have never been found.

Detectives investigating the latest shooting believe it may be related to drug dealing.

A Coneyboro resident said they believed Mr Lindsay, who was found lying on the footpath at Coney Green with gunshot wounds, was peddling drugs.

“He would have kept his head down but there was a lot of activity when he was living on the estate,” said the resident.

Mr Lindsay, originally from Finglas in north Dublin, was known to gardaí. While he had convictions for public order and minor drug offences, he was not seen as a major player in the criminal world.

Since moving to Athy with his girlfriend almost two years ago, his home has been searched more than once by gardaí. Pipe bombs were planted in the quiet residential housing estate last November.

Gardaí have appealed to anybody who was in the area around the time Lindsay was shot and noticed anything suspicious to contact them.

It is believed that Mr Lindsay’s cousin and his associate were killed at a house in Co Down in Jul 2008 and buried.

It is thought the double hit was ordered by notorious drug dealer Michael Kelly, also known as the Panda, who was shot dead in Sept 2011.

Mr Lindsay was taken by ambulance to Naas General Hospital where he was later pronounced dead. He was formally identified following an autopsy by deputy state pathologist Dr Michael Curtis yesterday afternoon.

Labour Party councillor Thomas Redmond, who lives with his family in the Coneboro estate, said: “A lot of people have come to me very upset and very nervous. Criminal behaviour is not acceptable and now it has been brought to our doors.”

Cllr Redmond said he had three young children growing up on the estate and was just as concerned as everybody else living there.

He said local politicians were organising a public meeting this week so that gardaí could quell residents’ fears.

Cllr Redmond said he knew that Mr Lindsay lived in the unfinished estate, which is in the process of being completed by the developer, the local authority, and Nama.

He said there are about 300 houses in the estate and it had a great community spirit.