By Ken Foy crime correspondent – 13 November 2014 02:30 PM Gardai have arrested a close associate of a criminal who was brutally shot dead and whose body was dumped in Tallaght.
Armed officers swooped on the dangerous 23-year-old gangster in an early morning raid in Dublin's north inner city and brought him to Tallaght Garda Station where he was still being questioned last night about the slaying of Michael 'Mad Mickey' Devoy (41).
Devoy's body was riddled with bullets before it was discovered on the side of the road in Bohernabreena late on the night of January 18.
A handgun was later recovered close to the body but yesterday's development was the first arrest in the case.
"The man in custody is a heavy hitter in terms of organised crime and he was very pally with Devoy," a senior source told the Herald.
"He is involved in extortion, debt collection and is associated with Provos in the north inner city.
"Gardai do not believe that he was the gunman, but he may have played a role in setting Devoy up or had knowledge of it."
'Mad Mickey' (inset) was murdered shortly after his release from Portlaosie Prison.
He had returned to his home in Ballymun and then moved to a safehouse in Drumcondra.
threatening
He left the hideaway after getting a call from a well-known gangster and his body was later found lying in a ditch.
In November, 2006, Devoy was jailed for four years after he admitted threatening to gouge out a man's eyeballs and kill him.
Devoy from Balbutcher Drive, Ballymun, had numerous previous convictions and was only weeks out of prison for a similar offence when he told gardai that he would find the man in prison, slash his face with razor blades, gouge out his eyes and smash his head.
