GARDAÍ ARE investigating whether the shooting dead of a man and the wounding of a second at a house in Co Louth arose from a planned debt collection beating or a kidnapping that went wrong.
Stephen Lyndon (20), Cromcastle, Coolock, north Dublin, was fatally wounded in the incident just after 11pm on Friday. His body was not found until nearly six hours later on a green area on the Sliabh Breagh estate in Ardee. It was the 21st gun killing of the year.
A second man presented himself to Beaumont Hospital, north Dublin, for treatment for gunshot wounds on Saturday. He underwent surgery for wounds to his arm and shoulder and is expected to make a full recovery.
Gardaí believe the wounded man and Mr Lyndon were part of a four-man group that travelled by car from Dublin to the Sliabh Breagh estate on Friday night to carry out an attack.
Detectives believe the gang may have been paid by another party who wanted the younger of two men in the Ardee house either beaten or kidnapped, possibly to force payment of a drugs debt.
An effort was made to attack the man in Ardee last Wednesday but he managed to escape.
One of the gang that went to the Ardee house is a known debt-collector also involved in “settling rows” between Travellers.
The two men living in the house targeted in the Sliabh Breagh estate are Travellers. The father and son from Dundalk have been living in Ardee for 12 months.
Gardaí believe Mr Lyndon, a body builder, may have been brought along to Ardee as “muscle”. He was not a gangland criminal.
The four-man gang broke windows in the front and back of the father and son’s Ardee property on Friday night before kicking a door down and running upstairs.
One of the occupants opened fire with a handgun, hitting two of the four intruders. The gang, who were armed with batons but not guns, then fled the scene on foot. It is believed a Samurai sword was also produced during the attack.
Gardaí were alerted to a disturbance and called to the house just before midnight.
However, there was no indication at the time there had been a shooting at the house.
The two occupants told gardaí their house had been attacked but they had fought off the four men.
Gardaí then left, but when they returned to the house to check on the occupants at 1am on Saturday, the father and son were gone.
Just before 5am, a man passing a green area on the Sliabh Breagh estate, about 200 metres from the scene of the disturbance, noticed a body lying under trees.
Gardaí were alerted and found Mr Lyndon’s body. He had been shot just above the heart and appears to have made his way from the scene of the attack and across the green before collapsing and dying under trees.
As soon as his body was found, the area was sealed off by gardaí.
Deputy State Pathologist Dr Khalid Jabbar carried out a preliminary examination of the body at the scene before it was taken away on Saturday afternoon for a full postmortem.
Gardaí believe they know the identities of the other two men who were in Ardee with Mr Lyndon and the injured man now in Beaumont Hospital. One of the suspects was arrested in Dublin on Saturday evening on suspicion of aggravated burglary – a burglary involving the threat or use of a weapon – at the Sliabh Breagh house. He has since been released without charge. Gardaí are now searching for the fourth member of the gang.
His car, a Renault Laguna, was found outside the house in Ardee, having apparently been abandoned when the four attackers ran away after being fired on.
Gardaí are also seeking the father and son who were in the house when the four men broke in. They left the house at about 1am on Saturday. Their Mercedes has since been found in Ardee.
At least one of the four-man gang got a taxi from Ardee back to Dublin on Friday night or Saturday morning. Gardaí have appealed for the taxi driver who took the fare to contact gardaí at Dundalk station.
