The man shot dead at his home in a late night attack on Monday was known to the Garda but had not come to their attention for some considerable time.
Thomas Farnan (37) had been sentenced to at least three terms of imprisonment. One was a suspended four-month period and the other two were each for six months, for minor offences.
Garda sources said he was not a gangland figure or violent criminal, a fact supported by his criminal record which was relatively insignificant.
He had come into contact with the Garda when in his teenage years for robbery offences and had later found himself before the courts on a range of traffic offences.
“You are talking about a chaotic pattern rather than criminal mastermind activities,” said one Garda source.
A number of the crimes he was convicted of related to stealing cars or breaking into vehicles to steal their contents including, on one occasion, as set of golf clubs.
In December 1999, he was caught breaking into a vehicle and stealing electronic drills.
In April 2000, gardaí saw him acting suspiciously on the street in Clondalkin but when they approached to question him he fled.
Back-up was called and the man was chased through back gardens of houses in the area.
As gardaí closed in on him, he charged a sergeant head down and broke the officer’s leg.
He eventually pleaded guilty to that attack and was given a suspended sentence, though related charges of stealing property from cars he broke into were dropped for lack of evidence.
Prison escape
In January 2002 he was involved in a high profile incident when he escaped from prison custody while being escorted to hospital by prison officers after claiming he felt unwell.
He was in jail at the time on remand in Cloverhill Prison, Dublin, awaiting trial for criminal damage.
However, the day before he was due to appear in court on the charges he complained of feeling unwell and was taken to Tallaght Hospital for an examination.
He was permitted to use the toilet in the hospital but climbed out the window and made his escape. He was at large for a lengthy period.
In August 2001, Farnan committed a burglary in Foxrock, south Dublin, and was also charged with the unauthorised taking of a vehicle around the same time.
When he eventually appeared in court in 2002 he received two six months terms to run consecutively and had not been charged with any offence, save for road traffic infringements since then.
