Irish man killed in Majorca in case of mistaken identity

There has been widespread condemnation of the murder of Dublin man Trevor O’Neill in Spain who is believed to have been shot dead in a case of mistaken identity.

Mr O’Neill was shot on Wednesday night in front of his children on a family holiday in Majorca.

Originally from Drimnagh, he was not a gangland figure but was a friend of a member of the Hutch family from Dublin.

Some members of the family and their associates have been involved in a gun feud with the Spain-based criminal gang led by Dublin Christy Kinahan.

Gardaí believe gunmen working for the Kinahan gang intended to shoot a member of the Hutch family in Majorca but shot Mr O’Neill instead in a case of mistaken identity.

Mr O’Neill was an employee of Dublin City Council whose chief executive Brendan Kenny issued a statement Thursday expressing sympathy to his family.

“The management and staff of Dublin City Council are shocked to hear of the tragic death of Trevor O’ Neill in Majorca last night. Trevor was a hard working and dedicated employee of Dublin City Council,” he said.

“On behalf of the management team, city councillors and staff of Dublin City Council, I would like to offer my deepest condolences to Trevor’s family and friends.”

Early indications are that he was holidaying with members of the Hutch family, although none of them are involved in the feud with the Kinahans.

If the shooting is feud related, as gardaí believe, it would bring to 10 the number of people shot dead in 10 months; two in Spain and eight in Ireland.

Mr O’Neill was shot four times in the back shortly after 9pm on Wednesday.

The incident took place outside an empty supermarket in Costa de la Calma about 25km from the capital Palma.

The victim was with his wife and some friends when he was shot and may have just left a restaurant after a family meal.

Emergency services were called to the scene where attempts were made to resuscitate the victim. He was taken by ambulance to the Son Espases Hospital in Palma where he died a short time later.

The local Guardia Civil police force have already interviewed five witnesses and are said to be hunting up to three assailants.

Consular assistance

The Department of Foreign Affairs said it was aware of an incident involving an Irish national and was providing consular assistance to the man’s family.

A bar owner, who asked not to be named, said: “I heard three shots . . . and then saw a man with a blue hoodie pulled tight over his face run by . . . I thought it was kids playing with firecrackers. But then I heard people screaming and people came rushing into the bar to seek refuge.”

Costa de la Calma, in the southwest of Majorca, is near Santa Ponsa which is a popular Irish holiday resort.

In February David Byrne was shot dead at Dublin's Regency Hotel and the shooting, which followed the September 2014 killing of Gerard Kavanagh at a pub near Marbella, was seen as retaliation for the assassination in September last year of Gary Hutch in Miraflores near Fuengirola.