GARDAÍ INVESTIGATING the shooting dead of a gangland figure whose body was discovered dumped near a suburban apartment block believe the murder may be linked to a shooting in Darndale at the weekend.
The body of David Fred Lynch (26) was discovered by a member of the public at 4pm yesterday on waste ground beside Darndale, north Dublin. He had been shot three times in the head.
The killing is the 10th gun murder so far this year.
Another Dublin gangland figure is missing presumed dead since January and a Limerick gangland figure accidentally fatally shot himself in the head last week. Two other Irish drug dealers have been murdered in Spain and the Netherlands this year.
Garda sources say while the number of fatal shootings this year is high, progress is being made in a number of cases and some suspects have already been charged.
The latest body was found on waste ground at the rear perimeter wall of the Cúirt Baile Nua estate between Belcamp Lane and the N32, off the Malahide Road at Darndale. Deputy State Pathologist Dr Michael Curtis carried out an examination before the body was taken to nearby Beaumont Hospital for a postmortem this morning.
Mr Lynch, a father of one with addresses in Darndale and Ballymun, was a known drug dealer who was wounded in a shooting in Ballymun in 2006. He lost a kidney as a result of that attack.
He was suspected of involvement in a number of serious shooting incidents. The most recent of those took place in Darndale in the early hours of last Sunday morning.
A number of criminals made their way on foot to a meeting spot in Darndale. One of the group unexpectedly produced a handgun during the meeting and shot one of the other men. The victim, a drug dealer from Kilbarrack in north Dublin, was wounded in the leg but survived.
Garda intelligence suggests Mr Lynch was at the scene and that a close associate of his was the gunman. Gardaí believe Mr Lynch may have been murdered, most likely on Sunday night, in revenge for that attack.
Gardaí are now fearful the murder will prompt a sustained feud as Mr Lynch’s associates seek to avenge his killing.
In January, when a drug dealer was shot and wounded in a drug-related incident at a house in Kinsealy, north Dublin, Mr Lynch was regarded as a suspect. The intended victim fled upstairs with his partner and locked themselves into a bedroom with their baby son. The gunman fired through the bedroom door wounding the victim three times.
Mr Lynch had convictions for road traffic offences and drugs and was released from prison in Northern Ireland last September after a serving a sentence for theft.
