http://www.sundayworld.com/top-stories/crime-desk/dead-hitman-walking-shot-in-gangland-attackA SUSPECTED hitman who was arrested for the attempted murder of businessman Sean Enright has been shot himself in a gangland hit.
The 45 year-old was shot in the head earlier tonight in St Dominic's Shopping Centre in Tallaght Dublin.
Gardai have sealed off the scene and a technical examination is underway.
Last week the the Sunday World revealed how the suspected hitman was nabbed by detectives at a house in Tallaght, Dublin and taken to Finglas Garda station for questioning.
He had spent the previous week hiding from gardai and criminals after being suspected of blasting hardman Enright five times at close range, only for the bodybuilder to survive.
We revealed how Gardai arrested the suspected gunman just in the nick of time.
Several criminals turned up at the house at lunchtime looking for him with sources saying they believe that they intended to abduct him. Gardai got to him first and probably saved his life. His luck finally ran out tonight.
Officers were hopeful that he would cooperate with the investigation into the Enright shooting in order to save his skin. It is believed that the professional armed robber accepted a €20,000 contract to whack the 32-year-old but panicked when he confronted his target at a gym in Glasnevin two weeks ago.
He was regarded as a dead man walking because he could identify the man who hired him to take out Enright. Detectives have pieced together the events leading up to the assassination bid and believe that a business associate of Enright took out the hit after falling out with the father of three last month.
Officers have studied CCTV footage of the attack – Sunday World sources say the gunman was clearly nervous and can be seen shaking as he approaches Enright from behind before raising his gun and opens fire.
Although Enright was hit in the neck and back, he was confident that he would survive and taunted his would-be killer, ordering him to “bring it on”.
The robber, who is from Tallaght, was shocked by Enright’s defiance and fled. The hit was so amateurish that the would-be assassin didn’t even bring a getaway driver and forgot to burn out the stolen car.
By the time he ordered two female associates to go back and torch the motor, gardai had already found it. Sources say that they are confident that the gunman left his DNA in the car and believe that they will have enough evidence to bring charges.
On Wednesday evening after the botched bid, the shooter was summoned to a meeting with the man who had ordered the murder and was told that he would be paid, despite the fact that Enright was still alive.
However, the robber feared that he was being lured to his death because he failed in his mission and believed that he would be killed so that he could not identify the man behind the plot.
He gave the meeting a miss, dumped his mobile phone and checked into a hotel in Ballymun on the northside of Dublin. He then moved between safe houses in Finglas before gardai caught up with him.
Gardai have linked him to an armed robbery at a post office in Tallaght three weeks ago in which €10,000 was stolen. He and a 37-year-old accomplice threatened staff with a lump hammer and escaped with the cash on a bicycle.
The suspect had more than 20 convictions for robbery and was arrested five weeks ago for an armed robbery at a bank in Dublin city centre.
He had a drug problem and told pals that he agreed to shoot Enright because his partner recently gave birth to his child and he needed the cash.
The man who took out the contract on Enright was previously a close friend of his but they have had a bitter falling out over a business disagreement.
Enright has given a statement to gardai and is understood to have told them that he has no idea why somebody wanted him dead.
However detectives are aware that his name has featured on hit lists issued by the Real IRA and the INLA and a criminal from Blanchardstown also took out a contract on his life after a recent disagreement.
It is not the first time that Enright has miraculously escaped death. In January 2011, he was targeted by a lone gunman outside his girlfriend’s home in Clonsilla, west Dublin.
Nine shots were fired and Enright was hit in the upper body at least three times. Although it was reported at the time that a bulletproof vest had saved his life, it was his sheer muscle mass that stopped the rounds from piercing his heart.
The would-be killer escaped in a waiting car and Enright managed to stagger into his girlfriend’s house where he collapsed.
It was feared he would not survive but he amazed doctors with his recovery and was out of hospital after less than a week. The bullet wounds to his chest are clearly visible when Enright competes in amateur bodybuilding tournaments.
In 2008, Enright had another lucky escape when he was attacked while working as a doorman at a pub in Tallaght. He refused to let a man in and he returned later in the night and stabbed Enright, although he wasn’t seriously injured.
These exclusive Sunday World pictures show Enright and Alan ‘Fatpuss’ Bradley happily posing for pictures at Enright’s gym. The pair have a long association together.
As well as competing in bodybuilding events together, Fatpuss Bradley made a very public DJ appearance at a dance festival promoted by Enright.
Enright and Fatpuss
The ‘Escape Fest’ made headlines in the summer of 2009 when Fatpuss performed a dance set in front of 3,000 people at the Fairyhouse racecourse.
Despite organising and running the event, Sean Enright told a newspaper that he did not know why Bradley and his criminal brother, Wayne, turned up to a court appearance wearing t-shirts promoting the Escape Fest event.
He said the pair must have bought them on the internet: “I didn’t know he (Alan) was wearing the t-shirt. I didn’t even know he had one. I’m shocked. He’s a DJ from town, he’s been doing it for years.”
