Kelly in hospital after Limerick shooting

Anthony Kelly - a brother of the late Limerick alderman and criminal Michael Kelly - is recovering in hospital after escaping yet another attempt on his life.

The father of six was admitted to the Mid Western Regional Hospital in Limerick at the weekend after being shot at near his home in the Southill area of Limerick city.

The 44-year-old suffered pellet wounds to his leg after a gunman shot several times at him in O'Malley Park at 9.15pm last Friday night.

This latest gun attack on Anthony Kelly follows a spate of similar incidents in recent months. On September 28 last several shots were fired at his car when he was returning home after dropping his children to school.

In that incident, up to five shots were fired at at his car but none of them hit the moving target.

Last April, he was again lucky to escape serious injury when he was shot at while driving a van in the Southill area.

This shooting took place just days after his brother Francis Kelly's home was targeted by a gang wielding slash hooks.

In March, Anthony Kelly suffered pellet wounds to the side of his face when he was shot outside his home. At the time, the 44-year-old claimed that the same gunman theatened him some 12 hours later warning him that he "would be put down on top of his brother Michael" who died last year.

Michael Kelly died in June 2004, four weeks after he was found in a coma at his mother's home in Lilac Court in Southill Limerick.

The self-confessed criminal and former Limerick city councillor died after suffering a mystery gun shot wound to his head.

Anthony Kelly has always denied that the gunshot wound was self inflicted and claimed his brother was shot by a lone gunman.

He even orchestrated the exhumation of his brother's body, shortly after he was buried, to dispel certain media reports which suggested that a gun had been buried in his brother's coffin.

Gardaí believe that the attacks on Anthony Kelly are connected to a dispute between two families in the Southill area, but Mr Kelly has always denied that he or his family are involved in any feud.

No arrests have been in connection with the latest shooting incident and gardaí at Roxboro garda station have appealed to anyone with information to contact them.

Gardaí have also appealed to the public for information following an unrelated shooting which took place on the southside of the city on Sunday night.

A youth in his late teens was injured in the leg after he was shot at 9.55pm in the Kennedy Park area of the city.

Meanwhile, a family had a lucky escape yesterday when a gunman shot at their home in Thomondgate on the north side of the city. Three children and an adult were asleep in a bungalow when the front window was shot at at 5am yesterday morning.

Nobody was injured in the shooting but a car believed to have been carrying the gunman was seen leaving the scene at speed.

The motive for the early morning attack is not known.