A DRUG trafficker was warned that his life was under threat but laughed it off, an inquest heard yesterday.
Father-of-one Michael Hendrick (35), of Deerhaven Park, Blanchardstown, Dublin, died when a gunman opened fire on him through his car window at Melrose Park, Clondalkin, on February 9th, 2009.
Dublin Coroner’s Court heard that earlier that evening Mr Hendrick had asked his friend Derek Thomas to accompany him on a trip to Clondalkin to look at a car he was interested in. When Mr Thomas arrived at the deceased’s home, he overheard a phone call where Mr Hendrick arranged to sell €200 worth of Valium to an unknown buyer. He agreed to accompany Mr Hendrick on the journey.
Seconds after Mr Hendrick turned the car into Melrose Park, a man wearing a balaclava and riding a bike approached them, aiming a gun through the window and firing several shots. Both men ducked and Mr Hendrick pressed his foot on the accelerator, crashing the car into a garden wall. Further shots were fired into the back of the car, with six shots fired in total.
The emergency services attended the scene but Mr Hendrick was in cardiac arrest when he arrived at Tallaght hospital and was pronounced dead.
The postmortem by State Pathologist Prof Marie Cassidy found Mr Hendrick had been shot twice in the back, with one of the bullets hitting his lung and heart, resulting in death. Mr Hendrick had cocaine, methadone and sedatives in his system, but these were not a contributing factor.
Prior to his death Mr Hendrick had been released from prison, having served time relating to a seizure of cannabis worth €1.25 million in Limerick in 2003. He had been bringing the drugs to Limerick to clear a debt arising from his heroin addiction. It was thought that at the time of his death he had been attempting to rebuild his drug-dealing business and may have crossed rival gangs.
Mr Thomas said Mr Hendrick had been made aware of a “hit” that had been taken out on him over an assault that took place a number of weeks previously. However, he had laughed it off.
Gardaí carried out an extensive investigation, detaining 13 people for questioning, but the evidence was insufficient to launch a prosecution. The file remains open.
The jury returned a verdict of unlawful killing by a person unknown.