The man found dead in his cell at Cloverhill Prison, Dublin, yesterday morning was one of the most active criminals of his generation, writes Conor Lally.
Declan Curran (24), Cardiffsbridge Avenue, Finglas, was remanded to the prison last Thursday after he tried to rob a bank at gunpoint at Sutton Cross.
Curran went on trial for murder earlier this year but the case collapsed after a key prosecution witness withdrew her evidence. Gardaí believe Curran was involved in at least two other murders. He was also involved in drug dealing, car theft and the armed robbery of banks and cash- in-transit vans.
He was found dead in his bed at Cloverhill by two relatives with whom he was sharing a cell. There were no signs of an attack.
The cause of his death will not be known until after a post-mortem examination but he was of poor health, having lost a kidney when he was shot in the back five years ago. He had a chronic cocaine habit, having become an addict while still a teenager. He was also known to use steroids.
He was imprisoned for three years in January 2001 after he rammed a Garda vehicle at Ashbourne in July 2000. He had been trying to escape from gardaí by driving at 100 m.p.h. on the wrong side of the road while under the influence of drink and drugs.
Curran was arrested on November 12th last year and charged with the murder of Willie O'Regan in June 2003. O'Regan was shot several times in the head and upper body at close range by two gunmen at a flat on the New Cabra Road. Curran and O'Regan had been involved in a fight in the Finglas area a fortnight before the murder and gardaí believe O'Regan was killed in a revenge attack.
Curran was also suspected of being behind two other murders. On October 9th, 2003, the remains of Peter Sheridan, a 27-year-old father of three, were found dumped at Scribblestown Lane, Finglas. He had been shot in the head and was hooded. Curran feared Sheridan may have information to pass on to gardaí relating to the attempted murder of a man in Finglas in August 2003, in which Curran was involved.
On July 9th, 2003, Victor Murphy of Deanstown Green, Finglas, was found dead at Dunsink Lane. He was shot accidentally when travelling in a car with two other men. Gardaí believe Curran was one of the two men in the car with Murphy. One well-placed source said the two men in the vehicle may have been planning to drive Murphy to a quiet spot and murder him before the gun discharged accidentally.
When Curran went on trial at the Central Criminal Court in July for the murder of O'Regan the trial lasted less than three days before it collapsed. The key witness for the prosecution was Curran's former partner, Ms Christine Mahon. After the murder she made a number of statements implicating him.
However, when she took the witness box she said she could not remember making the statements to gardaí. The court heard that two gunmen entered her flat last April, but she denied in evidence that she was "terrified" into retracting her statements.
When the trial collapsed Curran was freed and quickly resumed his criminal activities. He was involved in a number of shooting incidents at the home of one Finglas family in recent weeks. In a previous incident this family had shot him, resulting in him losing a kidney.