Three men have appeared in court charged with the kidnapping of murdered Limerick man Kieran Keane.
All three were also before a special sitting of Limerick District Court charged with the abduction of Keane's nephew, Mr Owen Treacy. Mr James McCarthy (23), and Mr David Stanners (31), both with addresses at Pineview Gardens, Moyross, and Mr Christopher Costelloe (20), of Moylish Avenue, Ballynanty, were charged with falsely imprisoning both men on January 29th last.
Armed gardaí patrolled the area outside the courthouse during the brief court sitting.Judge Terence Finn heard that further serious charges - possibly murder - are expected to follow as part of a major Garda investigation.
Defence counsel told the court that all three men were unemployed and in receipt of social welfare.
None of the men spoke in court and all three were remanded in custody to Tuesday's sitting of Limerick District Court.
They were the first people to be charged in connection with the Kieran Keane murder.
Six other people - three men and three women - who had been arrested on Friday in connection with the same murder investigation were released without charge at the weekend.
Kieran Keane was murdered in an "execution-style" killing on January 29th last. He was shot in the head with his hands tied behind his back and his body was dumped on a roadside at Drombana - just a few miles outside Limerick city.
His nephew, Mr Treacy, survived multiple stab wounds in the same incident and later made a statement to gardaí about the abduction.