Gardaí believe a grenade attack on a house in south Dublin this week was a revenge attack for the killing of an inmate in Mountjoy Prison on Monday. Conor Lally, Crime Correspondent, reports.
They fear Thursday's attack, coming just three days after the stabbing to death of the prisoner Derek Glennon, may mark the beginning of another serious feud in the capital.
It was the third time this week in which explosives were used in attacks by criminals.
The military grenade was thrown at a house on Slane Road, Crumlin, at about 11.15pm on Thursday, blowing out windows and firing shrapnel in the immediate vicinity. The downstairs windows of the house targeted were blown out and the hall door and glass panelling was destroyed. A car in the driveway was also damaged as was a vehicle parked across the road.
Gardaí immediately sealed off the area and evacuated nearby houses. An Army bomb disposal team searched the area, declaring it safe just after 12.30am.
Gardaí believe the attack was carried out by two men who used a stolen car to drive to and from the scene. When the vehicle pulled up outside the house one man got out and threw the grenade before jumping back into the car and being driven at speed from the scene by an accomplice.
The car was found burnt out in nearby Leighlin Road. It had recently been stolen in the midlands. The family who live in the targeted house were not at home. They had left after being advised by gardaí that they may be under threat from a local gang of young drug dealers.
The family are related to a prisoner in Mountjoy who has been charged with Glennon's murder.
Gardaí advised a number of families with close links to the alleged killer, who is also from Crumlin, that they may be targeted by Glennon's associates.
The targeted family were said to be distressed by the latest developments. It was unclear exactly when or from whom the grenade was sourced. However, The Irish Times has learned the device was manufactured in the former Yugoslavia.
Reliable Garda sources said their investigation is focusing on a number of young drug dealers from the area who were closely associated with Glennon before he was imprisoned.
The 23-year-old, with an address at Stanaway Rd, Crumlin, was jailed in January 2004 after he pleaded guilty to the unlawful killing of Neil King at Davitt Road on December 16th, 2002. He killed the cyclist when he was trying to avoid gardaí after being caught driving a stolen car.
While serving his sentence, Glennon was escorted to St James's Hospital for a medical appointment. He asked to go outside for a cigarette and while there an armed man threatened to shoot the prison officer to whom Glennon was chained unless Glennon was set free, which he was. He was recaptured and sentenced to a further five years for that escape.
Gardaí believe the men who helped him escape, described as low-level but volatile drug dealers rather than a major organised crime gang, were most likely behind Thursday night's attack.
Anybody with information on Thursday's attack is asked to contact Crumlin Garda station on (01) 666 6200.