Suspect held after gun victim blasted to death outside house
Gardai at the scene of the killing of 27-year-old Leslie Kenny outside a house in Kilrush, Co Clare, yesterday morning
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Thursday July 30 2009
A MAN was shot dead in the front garden of a house yesterday following an ongoing row with his killer.
The victim was named last night as Leslie Kenny (27), who was hit by two shotgun blasts outside the house on O'Gorman Street, in Kilrush, Co Clare.
Last night gardai were questioning a 24-year-old local man about the incident.
The suspect walked into Kilrush garda station less than three hours after the shooting and was arrested by detectives.
He was being held last night under section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act and can be detained without charge for up to three days.
Officers believe the shooting, which has shocked the town, may be directly linked to a recent incident where Mr Kenny had broken into a local shop and stolen a handbag.
Gardai said Mr Kenny had been involved in a running dispute with a local man and this was being investigated as part of their inquiries into the killing.
Mr Kenny was well known to gardai and had more than 40 convictions.
Sentenced
He was sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment in May 2006 for an assault on a garda and was handed an eight-month sentence in March last year for possession of a knife.
Other offences included being drunk and disorderly, public disorder, threatening behaviour, burglary, larceny, damage to property and unauthorised taking of a vehicle.
He had also undergone treatment at a residential centre for drug addiction.
Mr Kenny was also known to be connected to a local figure, suspected of being responsible for much of the local crime. But he was not involved in gangland incidents.
In recent weeks he had been staying in a house only a few doors away from where he was shot yesterday, at around 10.30am.
Garda Supt Michael Comyns and other personnel were at the house within minutes following a phone call from a woman about a row taking place there and they sealed off the scene while they awaited the arrival of State pathologist Marie Cassidy.
A licensed double-barrelled shotgun was recovered at the house and taken away for ballistic examination by garda technical experts.
Locals reported hearing a row between two men shortly after 10am and then later heard two gunshots.
Gardai found Mr Kenny's body lying behind the wall of the front garden and covered it with plastic pending the arrival of the Clare divisional crime scene investigation unit.
Additional gardai were drafted into Kilrush from Ennis to help with the inquiries while a tent was erected over the body.
A post-mortem examination was under way last night as gardai carried out house-to-house inquiries in the area.
Mr Kenny had previously been staying in a rented house outside the town but returned to Kilrush recently.
One of the windows of his home had been broken while another was covered with plastic.
Tragedy
Kilrush mayor Marion McMahon Jones said the community was in shock over the tragedy.
"At least two families have been devastated by this shooting while the whole community will be affected in one way or another.
"It is a sad day for Kilrush, which is a great town and has a wonderful community," she added.
One resident remarked: "I have lived here all my life and despite the problems the town has had, this kind of thing is still shocking."
It is the 18th gun murder in the State so far this year, but only the third outside of Dublin.
- Tom Brady and Pat Flynn
