Gardai probe killer's links to pipe bombs

By Ken Foy Crime correspondent

Gardai are investigating if the discovery of three pipe bombs in Tallaght is linked to jailed gangster Timothy 'Timmy' Rattigan (35).

The bombs were discovered by a woman in the garden of her home on Saturday afternoon and then put on the road in the St Dominic's Court estate in Tallaght.

Officers have not established whether the deadly devices were thrown at a family's home or if they had been stashed there for collection.

The occupants of the house where the bombs were found have absolutely no involvement in crime, but they may have been targeted because they are related to Timmy Rattigan who has been in jail since 2005 when he was convicted of the murder of Joan Casey (65) at Avonbeg Park.

Sources said this is only one line of inquiry that detectives are investigating, with another being whether the pipe bombs were targeting a local man who is facing serious charges before the courts.

A source said: "Gardai are investigating this matter, and it may well be connected to Timothy Rattigan who is serving a life sentence in Portlaoise Prison, but that has not been established yet."

GANGLAND

Timmy is a first cousin of gangland boss Brian Rattigan, who is also serving a life sentence for the stabbing murder of Declan Gavin in 2001 – which kicked off the deadly Crumlin-Drimnagh feud – as well as a 15-year stretch for heroin dealing from behind bars.

Timothy is considered a dangerous prisoner but not a criminal mastermind like his cousin, who he spends a lot of time with in Portlaoise.

Timmy's victim Mrs Casey was shot through her bedroom door at 6am on April 3, 2004, after two men with a shotgun smashed through the front door.

During the 12-day trial, the court heard how Mrs Casey had moved to sleep in that room "because she thought she would be safer" there after a window was smashed in her front bedroom in November 2003.

The shotgun was found in three pieces in a bag in the bushes close to Rattigan's sister's flat. The bag also contained live and spent cartridges and a blank firing pistol.

The one fingerprint found on the double-barrelled shotgun matched Rattigan's left ring finger.

The print was on a part of the barrel, which would only have been exposed had it been taken apart or assembled.

Speaking after Rattigan was given a life sentence, Mrs Casey's daughter Martina said her mother "was the most wonderful person on Earth".

Timmy has had a number of run-ins with the prison authorities including issuing terrifying threats to a prison officer in Portlaoise in June 2011.

KFOY@HERALD.IE