In the line of duty
TV SPOTLIGHT ON BRAVE GARDAI
EXPLOSIVE new TV footage will show the terrifying moment a gangland shooting victim runs for his life inside a supermarket.
The shocking scenes will be seen by viewers in a new five-part series The Guards: Inside The K which is starting next Wednesday.
The show shines a light on gangland crime in the Blanchardstown, Finglas and Cabra areas of Dublin.
In the first episode, named after the K Garda district in the capital, viewers will see extraordinary footage of convicted robber Noel Boylan being shot by a masked gunman at Lidl on the Blakestown Road last June.
Scenes show the victim crouched over and moaning in pain from his injuries inside the store, telling gardai assisting him to “f**k off ”.
Incredible CCTV footage shows innocent shoppers and children outside when the gunman opens fire on Boylan – father of Lee Boylan, who also survived a gun attack just three months beforehand. Viewers can watch him being treated by paramedics and brought out on a stretcher to a waiting ambulance.
Family members, including his distraught daughter, arrives at the scene pleading with gardai to see him.
Speaking after an exclusive viewing of the first episode yesterday, Detective Inspector Thelma Watters said Boylan’s shooting shows the thugs responsible have no respect for the public.
She added: “Right across the country we have seen incidents where there’s been a blatant disregard and disrespect for the decent people that are going about their day-to-day business.
“And that comes back to and is reinforced in some of the images captured and the decent people who were in the middle of their shopping and small children around the area.
“It reinforced the seriousness and this documentary gives an insight into the work gardai are doing everywhere to target the gangs because that’s the reality of the risk that exists in that we can’t control where an incident can happen.”
The show also features Gda Rebekah Gaffey, who is one of the first officers on the scene of the shooting.
Coincidentally, she had also worked with her colleagues in the aftermath of the gun attack of his son Lee.
Reacting to Noel Boylan’s foul-mouthed abuse at gardai, Gda Gaffey said: “He tends to forget it was one of our lads who revived him that day and brought him back to life.
“He was so blase, he didn’t want our help. We were scum, anything you can think of, that’s what resonated with me that whole day. Not the fact a shooting had occurred, it was his blatant hatred for the guards.”
One garda who was first on the scene also recalls “the sheer amount of blood flowing out of the van” while one bullet hole was visible in his neck.
Meanwhile, the first episode of the show features gardai receiving vile sexual threats from gangsters.
Officers are also seen taking part in a high-speed car chase in which they believe two men were on their way to carry out another gangland murder.
And gardai are shown arresting Kenneth and Dean Fitzsimons, a father and son who are currently in jail for unlawful possession of handguns.
The series also takes a poignant look at mental health and how officers those in crisis.
The Guards: Inside The K is on Virgin Media One on Wednesday at 9pm.