Victim became target after a botched hit on gang member

DAVID ‘Daithí’ Douglas was targeted after the Kinahan cartel blamed him for a botched hit on one of their senior associates.

Douglas became the ninth victim of the deadly Kinahan/ Hutch war. Convicted drug dealer and armed robber Douglas had already escaped one attempt on his life by the time he was shot to death outside his wife’s shop on Bridgefoot Street in July 2016.

Douglas, a father of a teenage daughter, was shot a number of times outside his Cabra home the previous November as he walked his dog.

Miraculously, despite being hit three times in the chest, he survived and escaped without permanent injuries. His luck ran out less than a year later.

Initially, gardaí were perplexed as to why Douglas had been targeted, and inquiries looked at his previous dissident connections and drug dealing links. However, in the months after that gun attack, gardaí received intelligence that the cartel had blamed Douglas for a botched shooting at the Red Cow hotel in November 2015.

On that occasion, a gunman approached mobster Liam Roe and attempted to shoot him but the weapon jammed.

The cartel blamed a young north-inner city criminal for this, and suspected Douglas and another criminal, Darren Kearns – who has since been murdered as part of the feud – provided logistical support. However, detailed Garda investigations later revealed Douglas was not at the Red Cow on that night.

In a twisted double cross, a suspect in the earlier attempt on his life even rang Douglas and informed him he was not under threat anymore.

The words meant little though and weeks later he became another victim of the feud which has claimed 18 lives.