Sources say that “excellent quality” CCTV footage has shown that Mr Big travelled to the North on April 4, 2020 – the day Lawlor was killed
Gardaí and the PSNI have been investigating whether he travelled to Belfast after an issue arose with a getaway car that was involved in the slaying of gangland serial killer Lawlor.
Sources say that “excellent quality” CCTV footage has shown that Mr Big travelled to the North on April 4, 2020 – the day Lawlor was killed.
Mr Big was not present when the murder happened and was not in the city before the shooting occurred.
Robbie Lawlor
However, investigators believe the notorious gang boss was in touch with key criminal figures suspected of being involved in the conspiracy on an encrypted phone in the run-up to Lawlor’s execution.
They include Sligo gangster Barry Young who is also a target for the PSNI as part of the murder probe.
It is understood names, locations and even exact details around the murder were captured during the Encrochat hack.
Mr Big was released from custody by gardai yesterday morning
News in 90 Seconds – Sunday, November 9th
“This was a crime that was planned absolutely meticulously until the issue of the getaway car not starting arose,” a senior source told the Sunday World.
“This was the car that the killers intended to use to get back south of the border.”
Mr Big, originally from Dublin’s northside, was arrested on Thursday for organised crime offences. Gardaí confirmed that he was released from custody on Saturday morning.
Police at the scene of Robbie Lawlor’s murder
Sources have told the Sunday World that he was not specifically questioned about the murder of Robbie Lawlor while being detained for almost two days by Garda officers.
Instead, detectives questioned him about alleged serious organised crime offences relating to the control of a crime gang and a file will now be prepared for the DPP.
A source has told the Sunday World that while gardai are investigating Mr Big for organised crime offences, he also remains a key target for PSNI investigators probing Lawlor’s death.
“He will be arrested on sight if he travels across the Border,” he said.
Also arrested this week were a professional woman who was in a relationship with Lawlor and a shadowy crime figure aged in his 40s who was suspected of directing Lawlor’s criminal activities.
They were both released without charge on Friday afternoon and a file on the allegations will now be prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
Police carrying out searches in Belfast
The woman, who has worked in the legal business, was in a romantic relationship with Lawlor when he was murdered and was under death threat from the Maguire gang.
It is believed gardai are continuing to use information gleaned from the EncroChat network, which was busted by international police shortly before Lawlor was shot dead, to investigate Mr Big and his network.
The massive data hack captured a treasure trove of messages from leading crime bosses on both sides of the Border leading up to Lawlor’s carefully planned execution.
At the time Lawlor was shot dead in Ardoyne, the Encrochat mobile phone hack had just gone live and police were collecting millions of encrypted messages between criminals.
It is understood Mr Big presented himself at a garda station with a solicitor after becoming aware that detectives from the Garda National Criminal Bureau of Investigation were looking for him.
The murder of Robbie Lawlor is considered one of the most complex cases in the history of Irish gangland.
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Real IRA boss Alan Ryan
It happened at the height of the Covid pandemic when the country was in lockdown and involved multiple crime gangs who even organised “false flags” in an attempt to cover their tracks.
“This led to wrong people being arrested up there – the truth is you could not make this up,” a source explained.
“There is a lot more to come here but the fact that a banjaxed car was used could ultimately lead to the downfall of people that think they are above the law,” the source added.
Mr Big has spent nearly two decades at the top of one of Ireland’s biggest drugs gangs and is suspected of ordering a number of shootings – including the murder of Real IRA boss Alan Ryan.
While he has no major convictions, Mr Big has previously been targeted by the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) and is a key target for gardai.
He has earned a reputation in the underworld as a dangerous and manipulative criminal who has stayed one step ahead of authorities – despite being heavily involved in a series of violent gangland feuds.
Mr Big associate Kenneth Finn
Mr Big was part of a crew of young criminals who were mentored into the drugs trade in north Dublin in the 2000s by veteran mobsters like Pascal Kelly.
Robbie Lawlor would have been one of his contemporaries and they would have had many mutual friends and contacts.
Among those known to both men was a gunman who acted as an enforcer for Mr Big’s crew, Kenneth Finn.
However, they are believed to have had a bitter falling out and when Finn was shot dead in Coolock in 2018 by Lawlor, his fate was sealed.
At this point, Lawlor had become increasingly erratic and was heavily involved in the Drogheda feud – as well as other feuds with younger criminals in Coolock.
Lawlor was released from jail less than a month before he murdered tragic youngster Keane Mulready Woods in a crime that shocked the nation.
The PSNI have said that Lawlor’s murder was connected to a drugs feud between rival crime factions with connections to Drogheda, Dublin, Sligo and beyond Ireland with up to 21 suspects identified.
Two Northern Irish men remain in custody over alleged involvement in the elaborate murder plot and are due to go on trial next year.
Gardaí don’t suspect that either were the triggerman with it now emerging it was a Dublin criminal not a Sligo gangster as was once thought.
Gardaí believe the Maguire gang faction in Drogheda also had a key role in ordering the fatal shooting of Lawlor, and have raided properties linked to them and made additional arrests as part of an investigation into an intercepted €50,000 cash handover which was part of the bounty for the murder of the hitman.
Two women with links to the McCarthy-Dundon gang have been prosecuted in relation to that matter.