A gunman for the Kinahan organised crime group who was "haunted" by the murder of his innocent friend instead of him and conspired to shoot another man in revenge seven-and-a-half years ago has been jailed for 11 years.
Jason 'Jay' O’Connor, 46, of Whitestown Grove in Blanchardstown admitted conspiring to murder Charlie Cooper who was shot several times in his home in Parslickstown Green, Mulhuddart, on 5 December 2016.
Mr Cooper managed to run to a neighbour’s house and survived the attack.
O'Connor also admitted helping the Kinahan organised crime group commit murder.
O'Connor was the target when his friend Keith Walker, an innocent man he knew from the local pigeon club, was shot dead in a case of mistaken identity.
Mr Walker had been driving O'Connor’s car when he was murdered in the car park of the pigeon racing club on Shelerin Road, Clonsilla in Dublin, on 12 June 2015.
Gardaí investigating the attempted murder of Charlie Cooper seized an encrypted blackberry from O'Connor’s home, which when accessed showed that he was planning a revenge attack.
O'Connor said in a message on the phone two months before the gun attack, that Mr Walker's death "broke me," that "it's eating me", that "16 months" was "too long" and that "anyone involved has to go".
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There were messages about the car to be used, that they were "buzzing for Walker, take them all down", a reference to "an eye for an eye" and that it was to be "done right", "get rid of clothes" and "scrub hands."
Gardaí from Blanchardstown also recovered other messages from the encrypted device, including references to five "operations" in total with discussions about a gun silencer, trackers to be put on cars, named people who were targets and their movements "duckin and divin" and the fact that they were prepared to wait to shoot someone "as long as it takes."
Detective Inspector Liam Donoghue told the court that the gang O'Connor was facilitating to commit murder was the Kinahan organised crime group.
In one message, O'Connor and 'Associate A' talked about the difficulties in shooting a person at a particular location where there was "nowhere to park and watch", describing it as "a suicide mission."
In another the "lads put a tracker on... the wrong motor" while O'Connor had sent a message saying, "I won't get it wrong, clean head shot, no mistakes, he's going down."
O'Connor's defence counsel said he was very distressed after Mr Walker was shot dead, was "mentally very unwell" and seeing a psychiatrist.
O'Connor had been prescribed anti-psychotic medication but was mixing it with street tablets and cocaine.
He has 70 previous convictions, including for gun crime, assault, burglary and possession of a mobile phone in prison.
The case took eight years to come before the Special Criminal Court because it has only recently been possible to access the messages on the encrypted device.
The court was told that O'Connor has, for the first time, proactively engaged with his long-standing drugs problem and graduated from an in-patient treatment facility.
Defence Counsel Michael Bowman said it was "a very significant turning of the page" and represented the "green shoots of recovery."
O'Connor has written a letter in custody saying he fully appreciates the harm he has done. He said he grew up in a violent environment and sought retribution after he was involved in disputes with friends and associates.
These have cost him and his community a lot but the court was told he seeks a different role, he wants to disassociate from criminality and can make a contribution to his immediate family and wider society.
Prosecuting counsel Sean Gillane said the maximum penalties are ten and 15 years for the two offences O'Connor has pleaded guilty to.
Mr Justice Tony Hunt said O'Connor was a very fortunate man that Mr Cooper survived and made a full recovery, otherwise he was facing a life sentence.
O'Connor, he said, was involved with a very sinister criminal organisation, which is "plainly one of the most serious groupings in this State over past decade" and the damage caused by its activities has been referred to by this court on many occasions."
He sentenced O'Connor at the Special Criminal Court to 15 years in prison with the last four years suspended.
Speaking outside court, Det Supt Paul Murphy from Blanchardstown Garda Station said that Jason O'Connor’s conviction was evidence of gardaí’s commitment to apprehend people who engage in organised crime and who threaten society causing harm in communities.
