Adam Graham and Michael Fagan managed to avoid jail terms this week, despite evidence that a garda had to jump out of their way and nar-rowly escaped being hit by their speeding stolen car, which ran over his bike.

Both men are key figures in a gang of 25 young thugs based around the Basin Street area in Dublin 8. They are well known to gardai and officers were disappointed after Graham was given a three-year sus-pended sentence for his part in the incident, while Fagan was also spared jail and hit with a two-and-a. half-year suspended jail term. Graham (22), was high on cocaine and booze in September 2011 when he was spotted driving erratically on the South Circular Road in the city.



Michael Fagan was in the front pas-senger seat of the €15,000 jeep, that had been stolen the previous month, A marked garda car signalled for the pair to stop, but Graham swerved around the patrol car and sped away. He broke several red lights and a number of motorists had to take eva-sive action to avoid being hit.

Two gardai on mountain bikes were waiting at St James's Walk to inter-cept the motor, but Graham didn't stop and drove straight at them. One garda had to jump out of the way to avoid being hit and his bike was crushed by the thugs. The impact was so strong that the jeep's windscreen was smashed. Panicked The jeep then lost control and crashed into the wall of a garden on Uppercross Road and the pair were arrested a few minutes later hiding in another garden. The jeep was written off after the crash. The two admitted their involvement, with Graham claim-ing he "panicked" when he saw the gardai.

He has 21 previous convictions for offences includ-ing drugs possession and theft. He had been banned from driving at the time of the incident. Adam's older brother Paul is also well known to gardai. The 23-year-old was recently jailed for five years after being caught with €35,000 worth of heroin which he claimed he was selling because he had a baby on the way. The pair are originally from Crumlin but now live in Portlaoise.

Michael Fagan, from Sperrin Road in Drimnagh, is regarded as being an up-and-coming gangster and has links to jailed gang boss Brian Rattigan. In September 2009 his family home was shot at by criminals aligned with Freddie Thompson, and the previous year his cousin Mark was shot in a field in Ballyfermot by three senior mem-bers of the Thompson mob.

Fagan briefly moved to England after a bench warrant was issued for his arrest in connection with a car theft. He is regularly stopped and searched by detectives. Graham and Fagan both featured in our exposé last month when we identified them as key members of the Basin Street mob. - The gang is led by Brian Rattigan's cousin Aaron.

We revealed how he had been warned by gardai that his life is in danger because of his feuding with mobsters linked to Thompson. The Rat tigan and Thompson gangs have been replaced by six new mobs with 200 members. Gardai have declared war on the outfits and have set up an elite new anti-gang squad to crack down on their activities.

Dangerous The 200 serious criminals, some as young as 16, are operating in just a few square miles in Dublin's south inner city and sources say they are the most dangerous mobsters that gardai have ever encountered. The new mobs have sprung up from the original Crumlin/Drimnagh feud, but sources say that Thompson and Rattigan have no control over the latest generation of criminals.