Paul Williams Special Correspondent – 30 April 2013
THE family of a man facing charges of withholding information about the murder of Real IRA boss Alan Ryan believe he may have been abducted.
Yesterday a court issued an arrest warrant for Robert Carroll (27), from Clonee, Co Meath, who has not been seen for over a week.
In October he was charged under Section 9 of the Offences Against the State Act for allegedly withholding information that might be of material assistance to detectives investigating Ryan's murder.
The feared crime boss was gunned down as he walked along Grange Lodge Avenue, in Clongriffin, north Dublin, on September 3 last.
The Irish Independent has learned that Mr Carroll's father reported him missing last week and has told gardai he fears something sinister has happened.
He said he believes his son would not have gone missing voluntarily and that there had been no contact from him.
Security sources have revealed that detectives investigating the disappearance are "keeping an open mind" about what happened to him.
Struggle
It is understood that officers have visited Mr Carroll's home at Ard Cluain in Clonee and found no evidence of a struggle.
"Robert Carroll is currently the subject of an arrest warrant and we are looking for him in relation to that," a source said.
"The fears of his family have to be taken seriously but so far there is no information that anything sinister has happened to him and we are keeping an open mind."
Mr Carroll was charged in connection with the murder on October 9 and was subsequently granted bail.
A second man, Thomas Hunt (39), from Canon Lillis Avenue, in Dublin's north inner city, is also facing similar charges for allegedly withholding information. Last month he was sent forward for trial to the Circuit Criminal Court.
Mr Carroll failed to turn up at the Dublin District Court last Friday where he was due to be served with a book of evidence in the case and be sent forward for trial.
No one has yet been charged with the murder of Alan Ryan.
