GARDAÍ ARE treating seriously a plot to kill a crime journalist over an article focusing on the private life of a man regarded as a volatile gangland criminal.
The man at the centre of the case, a Dubliner, is currently in prison facing serious criminal charges. From prison, he tried to organise to pay another criminal to shoot Sunday Worldjournalist Mick McCaffrey.
The threat has arisen from the publication of a story in the Sunday Worldin which the suspect's private life was examined. Since the story appeared the criminal has been subjected to continuous jocular remarks from other criminals and is said to have grown irate. A number of months ago he contacted another criminal by telephone from Cloverhill Prison and offered to pay €20,000 if McCaffrey was shot. The prisoner was arrested on Tuesday at the jail and following questioning by gardaí was returned to prison.
A further five people were arrested in Tallaght and Dublin’s inner city, with four of them still being held last night. Some of those arrested are women closely associated with the chief suspect who were being questioned on suspicion of withholding information about the plan to kill McCaffrey.
Gardaí became aware of the plot during the summer and informed McCaffrey more than two months ago. He was advised by gardaí to vary his movements, including his travel to and from work and his socialising routine.
He was also advised to check his car before driving it in case explosive devices were planted under it. McCaffrey left his home for a period as a safety precaution.
The criminal who was trying to organise his shooting is on remand in prison in relation to serious robbery offences and a gangland attack in which shots were fired.
He is also a suspect in two murders and is very closely associated with two men who are in jail in Ireland and Spain, having recently been convicted of gangland killings. “These are dangerous people so even though the article in the paper would be classed as fairly frivolous, the threat to kill the journalist is being taken seriously,” said one Garda source.
