COPS are probing whether a man charged over the possession of a loaded gun in another jurisdiction was the second shooter in the infamous Xmas Eve steakhouse attack.
The Irish Sun has learned the thug is suspected to have been sourcing weapons for the so-called Gucci Gang, based in Finglas, Dublin.
Senior sources say he had been embroiled in a feud with slain Jason Hennessy Snr and his associates as far back as 2019.
He was blasted at Browne’s Steakhouse in Blanchardstown on December 24, 2023 — before dying in hospital 11 days later, aged 48.
Bungling assassin Tristan Sherry, 26, was disarmed at the restaurant before he was savagely beaten and stabbed to death.
This week the Special Criminal Court found Michael Andrecut, 23, Noah Musueni, 18, and David Amah, 19, guilty of his murder and now face mandatory life sentences.
Three others — Jonas Kabangu, 19, Diarmuid O’Brien, 18, and Hennessy’s son, Brandon, 21 — were convicted of violent disorder.
But despite the success of the investigation, Gardai are still “very much” pressing on with IDing the second shooter with Sherry.
That gunman fired shots on the night before he fled and left Sherry behind to be slaughtered.
Officers believe the man, in his 30s, who was later nabbed armed with a loaded firearm outside of the State remains a strong suspect.
He is well known by cops in the capital and has been involved in serious and organised crime, including drug dealing in west Dublin, for a number of years.
The suspect became embroiled in a dispute with Hennessy Snr’s mob in 2019 by weighing in behind the rival Gucci Gang, which Sherry was part of.
He had been spotted a number of times following Hennessy Snr’s associates and detectives had info that he was plotting attacks.
One one occasion he was stopped by cops near Hennessy Snr’s house, with an associate, and was found to have jerry cans full of petrol and gloves in his car.
Investigators believed at the time that they had foiled a planned feud operation.
The dangerous individual — who has a long rap sheet — is also suspected to have been sourcing firearms for his Finglas associates.
‘REMAINS IN THE FRAME’
A source told us: “This man is very well known to Gardai for his involvement with organised crime over a number of years.
“Gardai have no doubt that he had key knowledge of the steakhouse attack and he remains in the frame as the second shooter. The fact this man was caught with a loaded gun highlights how serious and active a criminal he is.”
The six men convicted over the horror will be sentenced in April.
ATTACK WOUNDS
In its ruling, the SCC noted Sherry died from multiple blows to the head and 27 sharp force wounds.
Mr Justice Kerida Naidoo said the actions of killers Andrecut, Amah and Musueni were “considered, composed and showed they had not lost any self-control”.
And he told how Andrecut took a pause from beating Sherry “to take a picture of him with a mobile phone as he lay on the ground”.
