A gunman and drug dealer has been jailed for seven-and-a-half years for his role in an attack by an organised crime gang on a man in west Dublin more than four years ago.
Derek Byrne, 40, with an address at Drynam Green, Drynam Hall in Swords, was originally charged with the attempted murder of Noel Boylan at Blakestown Way, Mulhudddart.
He later admitted purchasing the car used by the gunman on behalf of the gang.
Mr Boylan was walking near a Lidl supermarket at around 5.15pm on 1 June 2019 when he was approached from behind by a man in a hood and shot in the back.
He ran into the store and was followed by the man who "racked and re-racked" the handgun but it jammed.
CCTV footage captured the attacker attempting to fire into the supermarket after Mr Boylan, where he remained.
He was treated at Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown and made a full recovery.
Mr Boylan refused to engage with gardaí or make a statement.
The gunman was driven away in a Toyota Avensis bought five days earlier for €900 in cash which was later burned out in Swords.
Gardaí recovered a bullet from the scene and Byrne was later identified as the person who bought the car.
He has 78 previous convictions, mostly for road traffic-related matters.
Other offences included dangerous driving, criminal damage, and possession of drugs for sale or supply.
Byrne was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison with the final year suspended for his role in the attack.
Mr Justice Paul Mc Dermott described it as a very serious crime and said Byrne was "no stranger to criminality".
He was shot three times at close range, with his life saved due to a "fortuitous fluke" when his gunshot wounds formed an abnormal connection between an artery and a vein that stopped him from bleeding out.
In 2021, the getaway driver, 51-year-old Alan Graham, of Davin Gardens, Cahirdavin, Limerick, was jailed for ten years for his role in that shooting.
Just three months before the attack, an organised gang had tried to murder Mr Boylan's son, Lee Boylan, on the same road.
