A man who is due to testify in a drugs-related manslaughter trial is under garda protection in hospital after being shot and wounded in Dublin this morning. Alan Byrne, who is 27, is due to be a witness in the forthcoming Josie Dwyer manslaughter trial. Josie Dwyer, a 41-year-old drug addict who was suffering from AIDS, was beaten to death near Basin Lane flats in the city, in May of 1996.
Mr Byrne was on his way to work this morning when he was ambushed by a gunman dressed in a yellow fluorescent jacket and a hard hat, who came up to him and shot him three times in the lower back. The attack took place at Vauxhall Avenue, off Cork Street in the Coombe area of south inner city Dublin just before 8 o’clock this morning. It is believed a handgun was used in the attack and that as many as six shots were fired. One bullet went through the front door of a house across the road. A mother was there with her children at the time. The gunman escaped through the Marylands area, off the Coombe.
Alan Byrne was taken to Saint James’ Hospital where his condition is not thought to be life threatening. He is now under garda protection and gardaí are appealing for witnesses to the attack.
