14 shots were fired in criminal’s assassination

Gunmen fired at least 14 bullets at their victim before reversing a car over him as they made their getaway, an inquest heard.

Criminal Michael Kelly, aged 30, from Swan’s Nest Rd, Kilbarrack, Dublin 5, suffered a fatal head injury when he was gunned down at Marsfield Avenue, Clongriffin, Dublin 13, on September 15, 2011.

Gardaí had warned Kelly that his life was under threat the previous May.

Dublin Coroner’s Court heard he was visiting his girlfriend and was dropped off outside her apartment block at around 1.05pm. Witnesses told gardaí that a silver car came out of a parking space and when Kelly saw it speeding toward him, he started to run. A man in the back of the car starting firing a rifle, striking Kelly, who then turned and fell to the ground. The gunman continued firing as Kelly fell. A man wearing a black hoodie was then seen standing over the body and shooting Kelly while he was on the ground. This man then got into the passenger side of the car and the driver reversed over Kelly’s body before speeding off.

Kelly’s girlfriend was one of a number of people who went to his aid. He was still conscious after the shooting and was calling her name.

When Garda Martin Fahey arrived at the scene a short time later, Kelly had died. He was lying face down over a large amount of cash with “a lot of blood” coming from his side.

The getaway car was recovered intact about 10 minutes’ drive from the scene with the firearms used in the attack in the boot. Ballistics examiner Det Sgt John Higgins said casings of 12 rounds fired from an “AK-47-style assault rifle” were found at the scene of the shooting, as well as two bullets from a revolver.

The autopsy was carried out by state pathologist Marie Cassidy, who found Kelly suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the head. A further five bullet wounds caused internal injuries.

Detective Inspector Tony Howard said this was a targeted shooting. Kelly’s killers knew his movements and were waiting for him, he said. The dead man had been made aware by gardaí of threats to his life on May 28, 2011. Nobody has been charged with the murder and the file remains open.