On 24 June 2008, Freddie Thompson’s grandparents were preparing to go to bed in their home in the Coombe, when gunmen fired three shots at the house. The couple, who were both in their eighties, were lucky to escape injury during the shooting, which took place just after 10.00 p.m. A car was heard screeching away from the scene after the shots were fired. Anthony Cannon is thought to have been the man who fired the shots. Thompson was furious when he heard how his innocent and elderly grandparents had been dragged into a feud that had absolutely nothing to do with them. However, the incident did not happen out of the blue, and it was meant to send out a message to Thompson. Earlier that day an eight-month-old baby had a close escape when his fifty-year-old grandmother was shot in the shoulder in another drive-by attack. The victim was carrying her baby grandson when six shots were fired at her house on Knocknarea Road in Drimnagh. Three men in a silver-coloured BMW car pulled up outside the house shortly before 1.00 p.m., after chasing a man. The man running away managed to gain entry to the victim’s house and barricade himself inside. Two men jumped out of the car and fired three shots from a handgun into the glass panels of the front door and another into the letterbox before trying to kick it in. They failed, so one of the men ran to the front window and fired another two shots, one of which hit the victim in the left shoulder, and missed her little grandson by a matter of inches. The quick-thinking woman threw the baby to the safety of a couch. Had the youngster been hit by the stray bullet he would surely have been killed. The woman’s eighty-four-year-old grandmother and two other adults were in the house at the time of the broad-daylight attack, which took place just 20 m away from Our Lady of Good Counsel primary school on the Mourne Road. The gunmen escaped and the BMW was later found partially burnt out at the back of the Superquinn supermarket in Walkinstown. It had been stolen and fitted with false number plates. The woman whose house had been shot at was not the intended target, and the attack was a case of mistaken identity. She was rushed to St James’s Hospital and luckily made a full recovery. Freddie Thompson’s gang is thought to have been behind the shooting. It was a case of a grandparent for a grandparent. The woman who had been attacked was an innocent grandparent and so were Freddie Thompson’s grandparents. Gardaí were very concerned that both sides were starting to target innocent people who had nothing to do with the feud, especially when children were being dragged into the hostilities.
Gardaí got a great boost when Declan Duffy was arrested on 25 June on suspicion of membership of the INLA. He was remanded into custody to Portlaoise Prison, just metres away from Brian Rattigan, although the two men were on different landings. Gardaí had put a lot of resources into collating evidence to use against Duffy, and once he was off the streets, the threat of the INLA against Thompson was effectively lifted. This meant that all of the Gardaí’s resources could be put into keeping a watchful eye on Freddie’s escalating feud with the Rattigan gang.
On 28 June 2008, innocent people were again targeted in a horrendous grenade attack. Madeleine Frazer, mother of former Freddie Thompson associate Michael Frazer, had her home attacked with a hand grenade. At 2.30 a.m. a red Fiat Punto pulled up outside the Frazer home, and somebody used a rock to smash a glass panel on the front door, before lobbing a Czech fragmentation grenade into the house. The grenade exploded, causing a considerable amount of damage to the downstairs rooms, the ceilings of an upstairs bedroom, the upstairs toilet area and as high up as the attic. The grenade was designed to kill anyone within a 6-m radius. It was the most serious fragmentation grenade incident in the history of the state. Gardaí say that the house looked like ‘a bomb site in Beirut’, such was the amount of damage caused. Sources said it was a miracle that nobody inside the house had as much as a scratch on them, especially considering that six people were in the house, including a six-year-old boy.
Paul Dunphy, who was arrested on the Walkinstown Road in possession of two grenades and a handgun less than four months previously, was arrested for questioning about the incident, but was never charged, as there wasn’t enough evidence to charge him. After the Frazer grenade attack and the shooting of the innocent grandmother, tensions in Drimnagh were at an all-time high because of the tit-for-tat incidents that had resulted in innocent grandmothers being injured. Detective Superintendent Denis Donegan and Detective Inspector Brian Sutton made direct representations to senior figures on both sides, and with the assistance of the local clergy, brokered an agreement whereby family members would not be targeted in the future. Both sides agreed and things settled down. Just days later, Freddie caught a flight bound for Spain. His mother was quoted in The Sunday Times as saying: ‘He doesn’t want to talk to anyone. The Gardaí told him he was under threat. He hasn’t done anything, but he’s being blamed for everything that’s happening.’ Freddie spent several weeks in Spain, and the sort of cease-fire agreed by Gardaí seemed to be holding for the moment.
As for Declan Duffy, his arrest meant the beginning of the end for both him and the INLA. He was held in Portlaoise until 8 May 2009, when he appeared at the Special Criminal Court to face trial for his membership charge. Surprisingly, he pleaded guilty when he took to the witness box to address the judge. His counsel, Michael O’Higgins, asked him: ‘You are dis- associating yourself from the group, the INLA, to which you have pleaded guilty to membership?’ ‘Yes, that’s right,’ Duffy replied, before adding that he had applied to the Governor of Portlaoise Prison to be moved away from the INLA landing. Because of his guilty plea, he was granted bail on condition that he lodge his own bond of €100 with the court, as well as two independent sureties of €10,000 each. And with that he walked out of the court a free man – much to the annoyance of Gardaí, who did not trust Duffy’s renouncement of the INLA one little bit. The INLA top brass in Belfast went ballistic when it learned of Duffy’s public denouncement and issued a statement criticising him. On 17 May 2009, Duffy granted an interview to the Irish Daily Star Sunday, in which he claimed that he had abandoned a life of crime in favour of learning to play the piano and becoming a guidance counsellor. The criminal said that he wanted to lead a ‘normal life’ away from crime. ‘I have had enough of violence and that is basically it. I would hope to lead some sort of relatively normal life now and I would hope to leave the violence behind. I’m learning to play the piano now. I’m doing OK; it’s very slow. The only song I can play is ‘Raglan Road’. I’m also starting a BA postgraduate course in guidance counselling.’ Duffy was wearing a bulletproof vest when he spoke to the Star reporter, Cathal McMahon, and talked about deciding to turn his back on the INLA and crime, after lengthy discussions with family and friends. ‘I have been a member of the INLA all my life, so it was not an easy decision to take. After speaking with a number of former members who left, as well as my own family, I decided to leave it.’ It is thought that Duffy was about to be expelled from the organisation, after an internal inquiry was ordered by the Northern leadership into the negative publicity that Duffy’s feud with Freddie Thompson had brought. ‘The investigation is a load of crap as far as I’m concerned. It is my opinion that the organisation wasn’t able to handle the negative media coverage that is attached to me. They need to grow a thicker skin.’ Duffy did not mention Freddie Thompson by name during the interview, but was asked if it was true that his group demands protection money from drug dealers. He answered: ‘It doesn’t work like that. If a drug dealer has money you go and take it. You don’t ask questions.’ It was probably an attitude like that which got Duffy into the bother that he now found himself in. Operating in Dublin is very different from working up north where paramilitary groups control each area. In Dublin it is criminal gangs that rule and they don’t take kindly to ‘Northies’ coming down and stepping on their toes. Nevertheless, Duffy claimed that his peace had been made with Freddie Thompson and that all the previous tension between the gang and the INLA had been resolved. ‘I have no enemies. The feuds with drug dealers are over and no one is out to get me, but that could change overnight.’ Garda
í were very suspicious, especially as they knew that Duffy’s almost biblical transformation from criminal to pacifist was made to curry favour with the judge who would be sentencing him for membership of an illegal organisation. If Duffy thought that he would be free for long to enjoy his new-found status as a peace lover, without any enemies, then he was in for a shock. On 21 May, he was arrested on foot on a European arrest warrant and taken to the High Court. The British authorities had requested his extradition for questioning about the murder of army recruitment officer Michael Newman in 1992.
Sergeant Newman had never even served in Northern Ireland and was not wearing his uniform when he was shot in the head as he left his office in Derby city centre. The thirty-four-year-old, who was engaged to be married, was so badly injured that his life support machine had to be turned off the following morning. A three-man INLA cell carried out the murder. Declan Duffy was involved along with Joseph Magee and Anthony ‘Fanta’ Gorman. Magee was jailed for twenty-five years in 2004, after pleading guilty to the murder on the understanding that he would be released under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement after just two years. Anthony Gorman was arrested in the same month as Duffy, and was also being sought for extradition. The case against Duffy was adjourned, and he was remanded back into custody pending a later court appearance.
Just eight days later, he appeared before the Special Criminal Court, where details of his arrest the previous June were heard. Detective Superintendent Diarmaid O’Sullivan from the Garda Special Detective Unit gave evidence that officers had then received confidential information in August 2007 that the INLA had planned to extort money from Co. Cork businessman Denis Maguire by kidnapping him. A massive Garda surveillance operation got underway. On 18 October, Duffy and another man were seen driving to Cork, where they booked into the Silver Springs hotel using false names and addresses. The next day Duffy and his pal drove to Maguire’s home in Montenotte, but used anti-surveillance techniques along the way to make sure that they weren’t being followed. Little did Duffy know that there were a number of Garda teams assigned to watch him at various locations. Duffy was obviously doing a dry run, and returned to the Silver Springs hotel. On 6 November, Duffy and the same man again travelled to Cork and booked into the same hotel, using the same false names and addresses. Three other men from the INLA booked into Jurys Inn in Cork City. They all travelled to Maguire’s house. Three of the men went into the premises but Duffy stayed outside. After a few minutes the men came out and all drove back to the city centre. The following morning, Duffy was again spotted outside the Maguire home. When Maguire’s wife got into her car and drove to the city centre, Duffy followed her. However, Denis Maguire then made an unexpected trip to Spain, which threw the kidnap plan into jeopardy. Duffy and the four other men then shook hands and parted. The four men and a fifth man were later arrested and charged with attempted extortion of the businessman and of INLA membership. Evidence was heard that when Duffy had been detained on 22 June 2007, his house was searched, and books of evidence relating to three of the men charged in connection with the Cork extortion plot were found. Gardaí interviewed Duffy a total of twelve times; Detective Superintendent O’Sullivan said he ‘generally was evasive in relation to the answers’. O’Sullivan agreed with Duffy’s defence counsel that he had since disassociated himself from the INLA and that this was a ‘significant factor’.
Paul Hogan, a school principal and member of the Castlerea Prison visiting committee, also gave evidence and said that he had a ‘degree of contact’ with Duffy while he was previously in jail. He told the court that he believed the ‘penny has finally dropped’ for Duffy. Hogan said: ‘He has kids – eight and ten years old – who are at a critical point. They need a dad. His partner told me she put it up to him if he doesn’t disassociate with all forms of subversive activity, she’ll part ways with him. I honestly believe Declan is not going to re-offend. I think Declan is ready to move on with his life, if he’s given a chance.’
Because Duffy was being tried in the non-jury Special Criminal Court, three judges decided his fate. The presiding judge, Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne, said the offence was a ‘serious one’. She said a ‘significant factor’ in her mind was Duffy’s previous conviction ‘arising out of the so-called Ballymount incident’. However, she said that he had pleaded guilty to the charge and added that the court ‘places significant weight on the public disassociation from the INLA’. She jailed him for four years and backdated the sentence to 2 July 2007. In June 2009 the thirty-five-year-old was in touch with the media again to talk about his proposed extradition to the UK over the Sergeant Newman murder case. He said, in an interview with the Derby Telegraph before his court appearance, ‘The police have wanted to speak to me about this killing for a very long time and I’m ready to meet them. I won’t gain anything by remaining silent during the interview, so I’m going to tell them everything I know. I would never have spoken to the police in the past, but my war is over and there are things I have to get off my chest.’ He even claimed that he was prepared to write an apology letter to the dead soldier’s family. ‘This man was a family man and it is regrettable that he was killed. I would be happy to meet with any member of his family to explain to them the circumstances of why soldiers at that time were targeted. The war is over now and I acknowledge the hurt caused to Irish and English people. I just want to put my past behind me.’ Elizabeth Robinson, who was Michael Newman’s fiancée, blasted Duffy’s apology, saying: ‘Writing a letter would devastate his mum and dad. What could he say to his parents? How could he apologise for taking their only son? They [the INLA] wrote to them at the time, explaining that he was just another cog in the wheel. I don’t know what he is hoping to achieve by writing to me or his parents. Is he wanting forgiveness for murder? He can say what he likes but he will never get that from me. I became a completely different person after the man I loved was taken away. This is a political war but we are not part of it. I was only twenty-eight when he died and I did not know much about the situation. I am more worldly now and understand they have a political war. I understand they think they have their reasons, but what reason is there for killing anybody?’ In October 2009, the INLA issued a statement saying that the time had now come for it to lay down its arms permanently.
On 22 July 2010, Declan Duffy finally faced a court of law to answer for the murder of Sergeant Newman eighteen years previously. At Stafford Crown Court in Staffordshire the thirty-six-year-old pleaded guilty to the slaying and was given a mandatory life sentence, which, under English law, means he will serve a minimum of twenty-four years in prison. The judge presiding over the case, Justice Julia Macur, described the murder as a ‘heinous crime’ that was carried out for political reasons. She added: ‘The death of Mr Newman that afternoon caused horror, panic, anger and anxiety, not merely for his family and friends but also for the public. The jailing of Declan ‘Whacker’ Duffy no doubt came as a relief to Freddie Thompson and his gang who were clearly terrified of the renegade terrorist and his cohorts. It marked the end of a bloody chapter that introduced pipe bombs as the weapon of choice for the feuding criminals. Although Duffy may be gone for good, the legacy of the deadly pipe bomb with which he flooded the streets will certainly outlive him.
14
The Emergence of the Next Generation
LIFE WAS BECOMING very eventful for Wayne McNally, now a senior member of the Rattigan gang. Ever since being shot in the face in February 2007, in what was a very up-close-and-personal encounter with death, Wayne McNally was on a path of self-destruction. His self-destructive path would inevitably lead to a lengthy spell behind bars or a violent end. After recuperating for a few months, he came back into the feud with a vengeance and was involved in several incidents. Getting McNally off the streets had been high on the Gardaí’s list of priorities. On 10 February 2008, the twenty-three-year-old attempted to gain entry into the Hush Nightclub at the popular Red Cow Inn complex, just off the M50. After getting into the queue, the
bouncers decided that they did not want McNally on the premises and turned him away. McNally was angry at the perceived slight. He then got into a row with another man who was also in the queue. One of the bouncers, David Gilsenan, stepped in between the two men to stop the fight. McNally and his opponent walked away, which seemed like the end of the incident.
However, McNally returned a while later and asked to go into the club to talk to his girlfriend, who had been allowed in. Mr Gilsenan refused him entry because the club was closing in half an hour. McNally said nothing and walked away, but a few minutes later somebody shouted, ‘Watch your back’, and the bouncer turned around to see the flash of a gun muzzle and heard a gunshot. The bullet hit Gilsenan between his nose and upper ear and exited behind the same ear. He suffered extensive injuries and was rushed to hospital, while McNally fled in an Audi A4 car. The car had been stolen earlier that night from outside The Square shopping centre in Tallaght. News of the shooting was quickly broadcast on the Garda radio system and officers across the city were on the lookout for a male, his identity not being known at that time. Witnesses described the gunman as ‘having the gaunt look of a junkie’ and being seemingly ‘out of it’. A couple of hours after the shooting, Detective Gardaí Tim O’Keefe and Kieran O’Sullivan from Kevin Street Garda Station were on patrol around the Dolphin’s Barn flats complex when they saw Wayne McNally walking towards them. McNally’s reputation for violence made him instantly recognisable to the Gardaí. When McNally saw the two officers he dropped a screwdriver from his hand. The Gardaí searched him. They found a second screwdriver and a flashlight. Detective Garda O’Keefe told McNally to put his hands behind his back to be handcuffed. McNally refused, so the Garda grabbed his arm to forcibly cuff him. However, McNally got free and ran through several gardens trying to escape. He had to duck under several clothes lines to avoid knocking himself on his ear. With Detective Garda O’Keefe in hot pursuit, McNally grabbed a wooden pole from a clothes line and pulled it down as he ran past it, hitting the detective on the hand and breaking a bone. The brave Garda kept up the pursuit and tackled McNally, who punched him in the face. The two detectives then managed to restrain and arrest McNally. Unknown to them, McNally was attempting to get back to the stolen Audi and get his hands on the Glock pistol that was sitting on the front passenger seat. When he was taken back to Kevin Street for questioning, McNally denied any knowledge of the gun or the stolen car, but later confessed when he was shown the firearm. It was fully loaded with six rounds ready to fire. The serial number of the gun had been filed off to make it untraceable. McNally eventually opened up about the shooting of the bouncer and claimed that he had meant to shoot over his head. CCTV footage captured the incident – a young boy had been standing less than 200 m away from where Gilsenan was shot. McNally told Gardaí: ‘I was walking away and something clicked, so I turned around and let a shot off.’ McNally was on heroin at the time of the incident and later pleaded guilty to possessing a handgun with intent to endanger life, attempting to cause serious harm to David Gilsenan, possessing a stolen car, assaulting the two Gardaí and having two screwdrivers with intent to commit a crime. He was remanded in custody from the day he was arrested. He was held in prison until he was sentenced in October 2009, when he was jailed for thirteen years. It meant that he was now out of the feud permanently, which was a massive blow to the Rattigan mob and a great victory for Gardaí. McNally is considered a violent psychopath who let his drug addiction get the better of him. He is suspected of being involved in planning the Wayne Zambra murder. His prison term really meant that a violent and dangerous man was off the streets, which had the effect of quelling the feud for a time, because he was a central player and one of Rattigan’s major lieutenants.
Cocaine Wars Page 28
