Gardaí on alert as child rapist and gang boss set for release

CHILD rapist and gang boss Christy Griffin will be released from prison tomorrow after spending 11 years behind bars.

The armed robber – whose conviction for raping his partner’s daughter in 2007 sparked a deadly Dublin feud – is expected to remain in living in Dublin.

Gardaí are preparing themselves for ‘heightened gangland tensions’ and ‘shooting and possible murders’ following his release.

Indeed Griffin, originally from the north inner city, but also with an address in Swords, is currently ‘under pressure’ to ‘choose a side’ in the ongoing Hutch-Kinahan feud.

Gardaí say there is currently no active threat to the 48-year-old’s life, despite his sustained child abuse sparking the so-called Sheriff Street feud, which claimed five lives.

While his allegiance should be to the Hutch gang given his north inner city roots, it is unclear at this point which side he will join.

A senior source said: ‘He is under pressure to join both. They don’t seem to care about his paedophilia.

‘He has remained a significant criminal from behind bars. He has to be very careful now he is out. He is a clever criminal though, make no mistake. But his release has the potential to send shockwaves through gangland.’

Although no viable threat to his life has emerged, gardaí in the north inner city and Swords are ‘very much aware’ of his release and the ‘possible ramifications’ of this.

Sources say that, despite making a major settlement with the Criminal Assets Bureau in 2009, Griffin will still have access to hundreds of thousands of euro thanks to a major property portfolio. It is also understood that he owns a lucrative ‘front shop’ in the north inner city.

From 1993 to 2001, Griffin bought several properties and amassed hundreds of thousands of euro, which he kept in various bank accounts and not all of it was seized.