A MEMBER of a gang suspected of the killing of drug dealer Seán Winters holds a security licence from the Private Security Authority, despite having a conviction for gun crime.
The gang member, who is not among 10 people arrested in connection with the Winters murder, was convicted and jailed after being linked to the discovery of a number of firearms.
However, since his release from prison, he secured a licence to provide security at pubs and clubs, despite applicants normally undergoing security checks as part of the licencing process.
This man and one of the suspects who is in custody for the Winters killing in Portmarnock, north Dublin, on Sunday night, are closely linked to a licensed company providing security to a number of clients. Both men are suspected members of a crime gang operating in north Dublin with strong links to dissident republicans.
Gardaí believe the gang may have been trying to extort money from drug dealers.
Detectives investigating the killing of Winters are trying to establish whether he was killed because he or any associates had been threatened and refused to pay.
The north Dublin gang suspected of the murder has also been involved in a dispute with criminals over the supply of doormen to Dublin pubs. Gardaí are trying to determine whether Winters had somehow become embroiled in this dispute. As yet no links have been established between him and the private security industry.
It has emerged that Winters, originally from Raheny, north Dublin, had develop a drug habit and had encountered mental health problems of late. He had tried to take his own life in recent months, according to informed sources.
He was shot twice in the head outside The Links gated apartment complex, where he lived, on Station Road, Portmarnock, at 10.30pm on Sunday.
Within hours, seven men and three women were arrested. Of these, six were arrested in a house in the Clarehall estate, a mile from the murder scene, and the other four were stopped in a car in nearby Donaghmede.
The suspects yesterday had their periods of detention extended for a second 24-hour period by a Garda chief superintendent. If gardaí wish to hold them for a third and final 24-hour period, they are obliged to bring them before a court in the early hours of this morning to seek an extension.
The house in Clarehall where some of the arrests took place has been examined by members of the Garda Technical Bureau.
The car used in the killing – a 98 OY silver VW Passat – was found on fire at Templeview Close, Coolock, just after the murder.
Gardaí believe Winters was involved in a large drug-dealing gang operating mainly in Donaghmede and Baldoyle, both in north Dublin. A leading member, David Lyndsay (38), and his friend, Alan Napper (39), went missing in 2008 and are presumed murdered.
Another member of the gang, Paul “Burger” Walsh (29), Foxhill Green, Baldoyle, had €600,000 confiscated by the Criminal Assets Bureau three years ago.
Winters was the chief suspect in the murder of Anthony Jenkinson (28), who was beaten to death in St Anne’s Park, Raheny, in April 2001. He was killed in a dispute over drug money. Winters was a cousin of Noel Deans (27) who was shot dead in Coolock in January.
Gardaí are trying to establish whether he was planning revenge against those who had murdered his cousin, and may have been killed to prevent such an attack.