Man (48) jailed for seven years after providing getaway cars for attempted gangland murder

Eoin Reynolds

A violent offender who provided the getaway cars used by an international drug smuggling gang in the attempted murder of Dublin criminal Gary Carey is facing over 15 years in prison after he was further jailed by a judge at the Central Criminal Court.

Ms Justice Eileen Creedon on Monday ruled that the seven-year sentence for Patrick 'Fishy' Fitzgerald (48) should run consecutively to a seven-and-a-half year sentence the defendant is serving for an aggravated burglary.

The court heard that Fitzgerald was on bail charged with Mr Carey's attempted murder when he and three other men terrorised a family after breaking into their home.

He has 72 previous convictions.

Ms Justice Creedon noted that Fitzgerald was initially charged with Mr Carey's (35) attempted murder at Ballyfermot Crescent, Ballyfermot, Dublin 10 on November 17th, 2021.

A few days before his trial was due to begin, he pleaded guilty to a charge that between November 11th, 2021, and November 18th, 2021, both dates inclusive, in the State, with knowledge of the existence of a criminal organisation, he did participate in or contribute to activities intending to facilitate the commission by the criminal organisation of a serious offence.

The Director of Public Prosecutions accepted the plea and dropped the attempted murder charge against Fitzgerald, who has an address at Glenties Park in Finglas, Dublin 11.

Ms Justice Creedon said Carey was attempting to exit his driveway at around 7.30pm when his path was blocked by a black Opel Zafira with two unidentified occupants.

Shots were fired from the Zafira into the windscreen of Mr Carey’s car and he sustained two gunshot wounds to his torso.

The victim got out of his car, ran back through his house and climbed over a wall in the rear garden of another property where he remained until gardaí and ambulance crews arrived.

He was brought to St James’s Hospital where he underwent surgery and remained in hospital until November 21st.

Having survived the attempt on his life, Mr Carey relocated his family to Spain where he lived for a period of time, the judge said.

Ms Justice Creedon said that when Carey returned to Ireland there was an unrelated attempt on his life on June 24th, 2022, which led to his death about two weeks later, on August 5th that year.

She said that a senior garda had given evidence that Mr Carey was known to gardai and was believed to have "fallen foul" of an Organised Crime Group.

Ms Justice Creedon said aggravating factors in Fitzgerald's offending include the nature of the crime that he facilitated and that it was done on behalf of an organised criminal group involved in national and international drug smuggling. His assistance in the crime was "crucial" to the gang's attempt on Mr Carey's life, she said.

She also took into account the "devastating" impact on the emotional wellbeing and sense of safety of Carey's family. Fitzgerald has not apologised for what he did or acknowledged the harm he caused, she said.

Having set a headline sentence of 12 years, Ms Justice Creedon considered Fitzgerald's guilty plea and his past difficulties with cocaine addiction. He has made progress since going into prison in 2023, she said, and has shown signs that he can be rehabilitated.

She therefore reduced the sentence to nine years and suspended the final two years on condition that he engage with education and training services and be of good behaviour while in prison and for two years following his release.

She said it would not be appropriate to make the sentence concurrent with the one he is already serving for the aggravated burglary.

At a previous hearing, the court heard that Fitzgerald had issues with drug addiction and had been a “habitual user of cocaine”. Last February he was jailed for seven and a half years after a court heard he was part of a gang that invaded a family home in the early morning, terrorising a couple in their 70s, their daughter and a six-year-old child.

In Victim Impact Statements read to the court on their behalf, Mr Carey’s family said they had been left “devastated” by the attempt on his life.

“In one moment, these people changed our lives forever,” his daughters Shauna and Shanice said.

The court heard that after the shooting in November 2021, the Zafira fled in the direction of Ballyfermot parade, where it was burned out. The two shooters then drove off in a gold Toyota Avensis, which had been parked up as a second getaway vehicle.

This vehicle was later found burned out in Finglas.

Det Sgt Ronan McDermott, of Ballyfermot Garda Station, said that the Zafira had been purchased through Done Deal and the seller told gardaí that the man who bought the car had arrived in a blue Audi A4. The phone used to purchase the vehicle was subsequently attributed to the defendant by gardaí.

Prosecuting senior counsel Ronan Kennedy said that the gold Toyota Avensis was also purchased through Done Deal and the number used to make the purchase was the same number attributed to Mr Fitzgerald.

Det Sgt Kennedy said the shooting was carried out by the crime group, who are based in Ballyfermot and are involved in the sale, supply and distribution of drugs both nationally and internationally. The group are also involved in serious firearm activity up to and including murder, the court heard.

Shortly after 10.30pm on the night of the shooting, the court heard CCTV footage shows Fitzgerald getting out of a taxi and into the Avensis, which is then driven away and is burned out in a laneway near the Willow's Pub in Finglas.

Mr Kennedy said the defendant was involved in the purchase and storage of the cars and this was corroborated by CCTV and phone evidence.

The defendant was arrested on December 17 that year and exercised his right to silence during the course of ten interviews.

Fitzgerald's 72 previous convictions include aggravated burglary, false imprisonment, assault causing harm, theft, violent disorder and numerous road traffic offences.

Bernard Condon SC, representing Fitzgerald, said his client had difficulties with drugs in the past and was brought up by his sister after both his parents died when he was a teenager.