Cross-border swoop finds stolen pups
Mum warns drug gang after four held over brutal murder released
Pup with garda at port
GARDAI helped recover four foxhound puppies in the North after they were stolen from their home in the Republic.
The dogs were snatched from Craughwell in Co Galway on June 21 and found at Belfast Harbour where they were being taken to a ferry with a number of other pets.
The discovery was made as part of a cross-border operation involving gardai, port police and animal welfare groups on June 23.
A Garda spokesman said: “Pet owners are advised to protect their animals by ensuring they are microchipped.
“It is also important pets like cats and dogs have a collar which should include the owner’s contact details.”
THE mother of a man murdered by a drugs gang alongside his girlfriend has warned their killers she will never give up the fight for justice.
Helen Maughan spoke out yesterday after the release of four people arrested in connection with the death of her son Willie Maughan, 35, and 21-year-old Ana Varslavane, who was pregnant.
Three men in their 20s, 50s and 60s and a woman in her 40s were detained on Wednesday.
They were released without charge on Thursday night but a file will be prepared for the DPP on their alleged links to the cold case.
The three men and woman had been quizzed for several days after Garda raids on a property in Co Meath where it is suspected the missing couple were tortured and murdered in April 2015.
The Irish Mirror can reveal searches were carried out near the same spot earlier this year for missing body parts of murdered teenager Keane Mulready
Woods. It was feared the rival mob behind that killing had dumped the teen’s remains there as a warning.
The location is linked to one of the most violent criminal gangs in the country who have been closely involved with the ongoing Drogheda feud.
Willie’s parents Joe and Helen have campaigned for five years to keep the case in the public eye and find their son and Ana.
Helen said: “I will fight for justice until the last blood in my body.
“These people pipebombed my daughter’s place to shut us up. They dug my son’s grave up to shut us up. They sent me threats, told me what was going to happen to me if I didn’t keep away from the police and media.
“When someone gave me that message I said, ‘Go back and tell them I will fight for justice, that’s my child, that’s Ana his girlfriend’.
“They were murdered and why should I sit back and, like closing a book, forget about it. Two people murdered and Ana pregnant.
“I am doing it because I want to show to these people I am not backing down until we get justice for William and Ana and until the bodies is got. I won’t be stopping. “I have great faith and belief that we
Keane Mulready-woods will get justice. They deserve a Christian burial and for Ana’s family in Latvia to give them closure. Let them have the dignity and give us closure.”
Gardai suspect the pair were brutally attacked at a compound by mobsters who feared Willie might pass details to gardai about a gangland killing.
It is believed several people were involved in the assault as well as covering it up and dumping the bodies.
Helen prays someone with details will finally do the right thing.
She said: “There is people out there afraid to come forward. A lot of things changes in five years.
“Those people who know something and even the people who done it have to have some kind of conscience.
“Just give an anonymous phone call and tell us where the bodies are and give us closure. Anyone who has information should just do the right thing and give is the closure we deserve.”