One man still held over Dublin murder

One man arrested yesterday in connection with a gangland murder in Dublin last week remains in Garda custody.

One man arrested yesterday in connection with a gangland murder in Dublin last week remains in Garda custody.

Twelve other men arrested during the Garda investigation into the fatal shooting of Anthony Russell (30) in an Artane pub last Friday were freed without charge.

The scene outside the Ardlea Inn where Anthony Russell was shot dead last Friday night
The scene outside the Ardlea Inn where Anthony Russell was shot dead last Friday night

All 13 were arrested in a major Garda operation that began before dawn yesterday.

Some 120 Garda members assembled from 5am at Santry Garda station in north Dublin before being sent in search teams to houses in north Dublin and the north inner city.

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The searches, which began from 6am, were led by gardaí from Coolock assisted by district detective units, the Special Detective Unit (SDU) and National Bureau of Criminal Investigation (NBCI). About 15 houses were raided. Gardaí also found small quantities of drugs as well as a number of computers and documentation.

All of those arrested are suspected of involvement with two feuding criminal factions based mainly in the Sheriff Street area.

The two groups were once associates but their drugs and armed robbery gang split when its leader, Christy Griffin, was accused four years ago of raping his stepdaughter. Griffin (38), originally from Canon Lillis Avenue, Dublin 1, is currently serving a life sentence for those rapes.

Two men, Stephen Ledden and Gerard "Batt" Byrne, were both killed in gun attacks in the north inner city in December 2006 as part of the feud.

Russell, a father of two from Kilmore, was suspected by gardaí and those involved in the feud of shooting Gerard Byrne.

Gardaí investigating Russell's murder believe he was most likely killed in revenge for Byrne's murder. One of the men arrested yesterday was a close Byrne associate.