Freddie Thompson (Irish criminal)

He was born in 1980 and grew up in the Maryland area of south-inner city Dublin.[1] He first came to the attention of the Garda Síochána in his teens for car theft and related offences.[1]

He was a cousin of Liam Byrne whose brother David who was shot in February 2016.[2]

Thompson assumed control of the Dublin branch of the Kinahan gang after Christy Kinahan was jailed in 1997 in relation to stolen cheques.[3]

During 2007-2008 he was involved with a feud with the INLA, including Declan Duffy, which caused him to flee Dublin several times.[3][4] Because of this, Liam Byrne gradually assumed control of the Dublin branch of the gang.[3]

In 2008 he was travelling in a Four-wheel drive car in Spain with Paddy Doyle and Gary Hutch, a nephew of Gerry Hutch when they were ambushed and Doyle was shot dead.[1] (Gary Hutch was shot at the start of the Hutch–Kinahan feud.[1])

Thompson was extradited to Spain in 2011 after Spanish authorities linked him to an organisation based in the Costa del Sol, namely the Kinahan gang.[1] He was allowed to return to Ireland in 2013.[1] He was wanted in Spain on three charges - unlawful assembly, drugs charges and possession of weapons and arms trafficking.[5] Spanish authorities claimed that he procured weapons for the organisation and is a bodyguard and chauffeur.[5]

Thompson submitted a statement of means claiming he had no income.[5] Counsel for the state asked how Thompson could support himself when he did not claim welfare, was not registered for business or tax yet travelled around Europe.[5] Thompson claimed he was supported by his mother.[5] The judge found the statement of means very unsatisfactory and refused free legal aid.[5]

In May 2014 he was arrested by Dutch police on foot of an international arrest warrant.[6] He was extradited from Amsterdam and held in custody.[6][7] It was related to a brawl on 7 January 2013, at Morriseys' pub, Cork Street, "sparked by slagging" after a funeral.[7]

In February 2015 he pleaded guilty to violent disorder for which he was jailed.[1][7] At the time of the Garda investigation Thompson had 29 previous convictions.[7] Judge Martin Nolan said that Thompson had probably caused the brawl and that he had thrown a bottle at someone.[7] He also described the brawl as "a quite serious fracas" in which many people were involved.[7] Thompson pleaded guilty and his sentence was backdated to 23 May 2014, the date he was first remanded.[7]

In July 2016, David Douglas was murdered and Thompson was charged with the murder that November.[1][8] In August 2018, Thompson was convicted of the murder.[1][9]

• Graham "the wig" Whelan, who sided with Thompson during the Crumlin-Drimnagh feud.