A man is recovering in hospital after being wounded in a gun attack in south Dublin at the weekend.
The victim was shot in the back and arm at his home in Crumlin, Dublin 12, in the early hours of Sunday morning but was expected to survive.
Gardaí believe those who shot him were trying to kill him but there appears to be no link between the attack and the ongoing Kinahan-Hutch gangland feud.
Detectives are trying to establish if the attack just before 3am was linked to the victim losing drugs owned by a criminal gang he had already been threatened by.
The injured man, a 30-year-old father of one, is known to gardaí and recently escaped a prison sentence despite being caught with drugs at his home on Stannaway Road.
He was found with cannabis and cocaine valued at €35,000 and was charged and brought before the courts but escaped a prison term after a judge accepted he had been forced under threat to store the drugs at his home.
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He told the court a man he was close to owed money to drug dealers in Dublin but had left the country. The man was then put under pressure to take on the debt owed by his associate. He said he was holding the drugs he was caught with was part of an arrangement he was forced into to address the debt.
He pleaded guilty to the drugs charges and was given a jail term which was suspended in full when the judge accepted his version of accounts.
Gardaí investigating the shooting are hopeful the wounded man will be able to provide them with information about those who attacked him. The murder attempt and the man’s background will give rise to fears that his life will now remain under threat.
He was treated at the scene by paramedics before being taken to St James’ Hospital where he was still receiving treatment on Sunday night.
The scene of the shooting was sealed off and underwent an examination by the Garda Technical Bureau.
Gardaí at Sundrive Road Garda station are investigating and have asked anyone who may have been in the Sundrive Road or Stannaway Road area between 2am and 3am on Sunday to contact them.
