Gardaí believe victim was lured to murder scene

Gardaí believe a young man shot dead in Kildare at the weekend was lured to the murder scene.

Jamie Lindsay, 20, was gunned down a short distance from his home in the Coneyboro estate in Athy at 8.45pm on Saturday.

Detectives suspect he had arranged to meet someone at a cluster of 13 unoccupied houses at the top end of the estate.

He had been drinking earlier in the town before walking home to his girlfriend, who’s from the town. They suspect Lindsay might have arranged a meeting while in the pub or later after receiving a phone call.

Lindsay was on the footpath when gunmen pulled up alongside in a car and blasted him in the face at close range with a shotgun.

Gardaí are checking records on Lindsay’s mobile phone for any clues. Garda sources indicated they had a “fairly good” idea of the suspects.

Lindsay was originally from Finglas, north Dublin, and moved to Athy with his girlfriend two years ago.

He had a bad reputation in Finglas, where he was engaged in serious anti-social behaviour. He was also the cousin of drug trafficker David “Babyface” Lindsay, who disappeared with his friend, Alan Napper, in Jul 2008.

Both of them are thought to have been murdered and dumped across the border by a rival gang boss.

However, the 20-year-old was not considered a serious criminal. He came to the attention of Athy gardaí because of drunkenness and public order as well as domestic disturbances. He was also known to be involved in local, small-time drug dealing.

“He saw himself as a hard man and was throwing himself about, but he was out of his league in Athy,” said one Garda source.

It is the fifth gangland murder this year.