Gardai were last night hunting two gunmen after a convicted criminal was blasted to death as he enjoyed a pint.
Paul Cullen (25) — who had only recently been released from jail after serving time for drugs offences and for brutally assaulting an unarmed garda — was gunned down as he drank in the Cabra House pub in north Dublin just after 7pm.
Detectives believe he was killed by former associates of slain crime boss Eamonn Dunne.
And an underworld source last night claimed that Cullen may have been killed “because he tried to muscle in on his old patch after his release before Christmas.”
It is known that he’d previously been warned by officers that his life was in grave danger.
“He was a dangerous criminal and would have had a lot of enemies,” one source revealed.
Dad-of-one Cullen was shot several times when he was attacked by two masked gunmen at 7.10pm at the pub on Fassaugh Avenue in Cabra — close to his own home.
Punters dived for cover as the two gunmen carried out the assassination before escaping on a motorbike.
Sources say that Cullen had entered the pub just minutes before he was shot in a hail of bullets — at least six times.
Cullen is believed to have been released from prison last November after serving a six year term for drugs offences and an extra 18 months for assaulting a garda.
Cullen, then 21, and his cousin Carl Cullen, then 20, of Dingle Rd, Cabra, pleaded guilty to assaulting Garda Amanda Lynch on November 30, 2007.
Paul Cullen also pleaded guilty to taking possession of an official Garda weapon, and Carl also pleaded guilty to assaulting student Garda Zhihao Weng on the same date.
The Central Criminal Court heard that the gardai were attempting to arrest a youth on Fassaugh Avenue when the Cullens approached.
Paul took Gda Lynch’s official weapon, an extendable baton, hitting her until she fell down, and kicked her in the stomach.
His cousin Carl then assaulted student Garda Weng.
Paul Cullen was then jailed in February 2008 for six years after he admitted possessing €56,000 worth of cannabis resin.
He said he agreed to mind the drugs after he received a bullet in the post — and said the attack on the gardai happened when he was under stress from the drugs charge.
Gardai from Cabra station investigating last night’s murder have appealed for witnesses to contact them on 01 666 7400.
