MURDER ‘WAS ORGANISED IN SLIGO HOTEL’
EVIDENCE HEARD AT BELFAST MURDER TRIAL:
THE KILLING of a leader of a criminal gang was part of a drugs dispute among organised crime gangs, one of which has Sligo connections and the murder was organised in a Sligo hotel, a court has heard.
Gangster Robbie Lawlor was assassinated in broad daylight outside a house in the Ardoyne area of Belfast on April 4 last year, the High Court in Belfast was told.
A gunman emerged from the property and opened fire, shooting the 36-year-old in the head and body.
The court heard the murder was part of a drugs dispute among organised crime gangs with connections to Drogheda, Dublin, Sligo and beyond Ireland. “It was an assassination in broad daylight,” a Crown lawyer said. “There have been three murders in the last year, four since 2007, and a number of other attacks linked to this feud.”
Prosecutors said that a plot to lure the underworld boss to his death had been formed at a meeting in a Sligo hotel attended by an international drug dealer. The details emerged as 36-yearold Patrick Teer of Thornberry Hill in Belfast, one of two men charged with the murder in north Belfast, mounted a new bid to be released from custody.
Neither Teer nor a 37-year-old co-accused Adrian Holland, from Etna Drive, Ardoyne, Belfast are suspected of being the gunman. Instead, they have been charged as part of a joint enterprise, based on their alleged involvement in events surrounding the killing. Mr Justice Shaw was told the murder plot was devised nearly three weeks before the killing. According to the prosecution, Holland travelled to Sligo and spoke to an unnamed international drug dealer at a hotel on March 16.
“His trip was paid for by Mr Teer,” the Crown lawyer claimed. “That was when the plan was put in operation, it then involved Mr Lawlor being lured to an address at Etna Drive where a gunman opened fire.”
Opposing Teer’s latest application for bail, she alleged that he is a “trusted member” of the gang responsible.
Disputing the strength of evidence against his client, defence counsel Frank O’Donoghue QC insisted there was nothing to suggest he attended any meeting in Sligo.
“The Crown may inevitably run into insuperable difficulties in relation to connecting Mr Teer to involvement in the murder of Mr Lawlor,” he said.
The defendant’s family circumstances and clear record were cited as part of the defence case. Teer’s employer and brother both gave evidence on his behalf, with the court also told that sureties and property deeds worth up to £238,000 could be lodged. Following submissions, Mr Justice Shaw reserved judgment on the bail application.