looney tune | 

Gangster who escaped custody in Drogheda mocks gardai with Road Runner post

‘They’ll never check I bet ya they won’t, they’ll think I’m bluffing…I’m safe as houses there’

Yesterday at 16:16

A GANGLAND criminal who escaped from Garda custody in Drogheda on Thursday night appears to be mocking gardai online over his whereabouts.

A Facebook page in the fugitive’s name, which depicts the Road Runner cartoon character, is now being monitored by gardai.

Officers suspect that the on-the-run criminal is behind the social media account. Efforts to track the IP address of the person who set up the account are now underway, in the hope it could lead gardai directly to the criminal, who’s aged in his 30s.

“I didn’t know ya wasn’t allowed outside the station for a jog,” according to the person claiming to be criminal, before adding: “The whole station was behind me too they couldn’t keep up…As they said too me it’s just a game, your getting remanded. Yeah sound remanded back too the hood.”

The person behind the account also posts a family member’s address, and claims to be staying there. “I’m in [address removed] for the evening if anyone looking for me. They’ll never check I bet ya they won’t, they’ll think I’m bluffing…I’m safe as houses there.”

A Garda manhunt remains underway this weekend to try and locate gangland criminal. He was being questioned over money laundering and organised crime offences when he managed to flee. He was charged with some criminal offences in the station and was due to appear in court on Friday before he escaped.

The fugitive is considered a key member of the so-called anti-Maguire faction who are involved in the ongoing Drogheda feud that has claimed four lives.

It is understood he managed to flee the station at around 9pm on Thursday when he was allowed out of his cell to have a cigarette.

“On his way back, he just ran through the station and was gone,” a source said.

This led to a major search and sources say some of the clothing that he was wearing was later found in the nearby home of one of his well-known criminal associates.

But the fugitive has still not been located by gardaí.

It is extremely rare for detained people to be able to flee from garda stations and a full internal review of the incident will now be carried out by gardaí.

However, sources say their main priority is now to locate the suspect, who has links to Co Roscommon, but has been based in Drogheda for a number of years where he became associated with the anti-Maguire gang.

He has previous convictions for offences such as burglary and drug offences and is very well known to gardaí.

A Garda spokesman confirmed the escape on Friday evening, saying: “Gardaí are investigating the escape from Garda custody of a male on Thursday, 14th December 2023 from a Garda Station in the Garda Northwest Region.

Last month, the Irish Independent revealed the gang the fugitive is linked to is behind a spate of recent attacks, including a home invasion involving firearms.

The gang is led by two brothers who are currently living outside of Ireland to avoid serious domestic charges here.

Gardaí are aware of one incident a month ago during which associates of the gang broke into a property in the Moneymore area armed with handguns.

During the home invasion, the occupant’s phone was stolen and his car was also taken before being burnt out.

The Drogheda feud, which has claimed four lives, began in July 2018 when mob boss Owen Maguire was left paralysed after being shot by gangland serial killer Robbie Lawlor, who was himself murdered as part of the same criminal dispute in April 2020.

It was the brutal murder and dismemberment of the body of Keane Mulready Woods (17) in January 2020 by hitman Lawlor that elevated the feud into an international news story.

A key figure in the bitter gangland warfare was Cornelius Price, who died in a Welsh hospital in February.

The 41-year-old gangster, considered a key member of the Maguire faction, was charged with conspiring to falsely imprison and blackmail two brothers in July 2020in the UK.

He was unable to stand trial with his five alleged associates as he was suffering a brain disease.

The anti-Maguire faction have also been left seriously weakened by garda operations against them.

Two brothers who are considered the mob’s leaders are forced to live abroad, and many of their key associates are either dead or locked up in prison.

This has meant individuals such as the criminal who is currently on the run now have a more serious role to play in the criminal organisation