A NOTORIOUS criminal who was quizzed this week about the Christmas gangland murder of Christopher 'Git' Warren is one of the most erratic young hoods in gangland.

The violent thug - who is in his mid 20s - was arrested in the south inner city by gardai investigating Warren's murder on Monday.

Unpredictable

The suspect is an associate of veteran criminal Jimmy 'the Badger'Edgeworth (73) and has links to the 'Fat' Freddie Thompson's gang.
Detectives believe the young mobster is one of the most dangerous and unpredictable criminals operating in the capital and has been responsible for a wave of crimes.

These include armed raids on post offices, two separate pub stabbings and a number of vicious assaults. He was also responsible for carrying out a number of robberies of drug dealers in the south inner city last year.

The baby-faced thug was staking out low-level crack cocaine dealers before holding them up at gunpoint earning him the nickname 'Omar' after the character in the popular HBO crime series, The Wire.

However, the robberies came to an end after he was told he would be shot if he continued.

Since then, he has been wearing a bullet-proof vest and last year was lucky to escape without serious injury after one of his rivals attempted to run him over with a car.

Sources have revealed that detectives believe three other men were involved in last week's shooting.

Ironically, 'Git' Warren also had links to a number of men involved in the murder and was friendly with their relatives.
Gardai have information that Warren was shot in retaliation for striking a woman in a pub in a row over a drugs debt. The woman has links to a group of up-and-coming mobsters.

He was lured to the northside of Dublin on the pretence of "sorting out" the row, but was shot on arrival. Gardai believe his attackers did not mean to kill him, but intended to shoot him as part of a punishment-style attack.

Despite his injuries, Warren personally raised the alarm and phoned a pal to tell him that he had been shot. He was then picked up by his friend, who drove him to St lames's Hospital before he was taken from the car.

Speaking to the Sunday World, an eyewitness said Warren was dropped off by two men at the hospital.

She said: "Two men, one old and one younger guy, got out and went to the passenger seat. The body was completely limp and was too heavy for both men to lift.

Addict:

"The younger man called over a security guard to help and they lifted him into a wheelchair. They tried to leave, but were delayed by security. The younger guy shouted he was 'innocent' and they sped off."

Warren was one of the country's most prolific burglars and amassed more than 60 separate convictions for house robberies.

The drug addict was on temporary release from prison when he was shot. His brutal death comes nearly nine years after the murder of his brother Paul (23), shocked the nation.

Drug dealer Paul was shot dead in the toilets of a pub in Newmarket Square on February 25, 2004.