EXCLUSIVE | 

First image of callous hitman who shot dead notorious Dublin gangster John Wilson

Keith O’Neill was jailed for life for the 2012 murder

Today at 18:40

This is the first picture to be published showing the face of the hitman who gunned down gangster John Wilson in Ballyfermot, Dublin, in 2012.

Our exclusive image shows convicted killer Keith O’Neill this week appearing before Blanchardstown District Court, where he was given a one-month sentence for possession of a mobile phone in Wheatfield Prison.

O’Neill was jailed for life in 2015 for shooting dead John Wilson in front of his seven-year-old daughter on September 28 2012.

The 35-year-old was shot in the arm and chest in the hallway of his home on Cloverhill Road, Ballyfermot.

Wilson had just collected his young daughter from school when the gunman walked in through the open door and shot him from behind.

The child said she just heard “bang, bang, bang” and could see her dad rolling around.

The murder weapon, a Ruger gun, was found in a burned-out getaway car.

Afterwards, O’Neill went to JD sports, bought new clothes and dumped his runners, jeans and two t-shirts in a skip.

When they were found in the JD bag and forensically examined, firearms residue and petrol were found on the fabric along with a phone.

O’Neill pleaded not guilty to the gang-related murder but he was found guilty by a jury and sentenced to life in prison.

At the time, John Wilson was a member of one of Ireland’s most feared criminal families.

Along with his brothers, Eric and Keith, and their nephew Luke, the family grew up in Ballyfermot while their cousin Alan was raised in the south inner city.

Though John, who was suspected of shooting up a Dublin pub, was the eldest, Eric was the first to become involved in murder when he shot his former best friend Martin Kenny in 2005 in a dispute over missing drugs.

Eric went on to carry out hits in Drogheda, the North and Spain before being jailed for 28 years for shooting English criminal ‘Tall Dan’ Smith in a coked-up rage at a Costa del Sol bar in June 2010.

Keith is also doing life for the contract slaying of Daniel Gaynor in Finglas in August 2010.

Their cousin Alan was charged with and acquitted of the 2008 abduction and murder of Romanian girl Marioara Rostas in Dublin.

In 2017, Alan and youngster Luke Wilson were jailed over a Kinahan Cartel plot to murder Hutch figure Gary Hanley.

Appearing before Blanchardstown District Court this week, killer Keith O’Neill pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a mobile phone while in custody.

The court heard the phone was uncovered during a search of O’Neill’s cell at Wheatfield Prison on March 29 last.