McDowell briefs Cabinet on latest shooting
Tuesday, 20 June 2006 18:06The Minister for Justice has admitted to Cabinet colleagues that gun crime is causing 'a difficult situation'. He said, however, that resources are not an issue.
Michael McDowell today briefed the Government on the latest gun-related murder, and is understood to have blamed it on a small group of 'desperate and disparate people'.
However, he claimed that pressure on gardaí was extensive and would become more so.
Yesterday, 22-year-old James Perdue was shot dead as he walked back to his apartment in Donaghmede in Dublin.
Department of Justice figures show that just 17% of gun murders since 1998 have been successfully prosecuted.
However, the minister said garda figures show that of the 29 murders so far this year, 13 of which involved firearms, 20 have been solved, with files either with or on the way to the DPP.
