Gunman's link to gang in feud with paedophile

'Wannabe' gangster Stuart Tighe (20) from Coolock was caught with the two loaded guns, which he said he was told to mind or his girlfriend "would get one in the head".

When gardai caught him he had changed his clothes and was sitting in a stranger's living room in an effort to avoid detection.

Crashed

The drama unfolded on the evening of March 23, this year, when detectives in the Coolock area saw Tighe leave a pub. He got into a Ford Transit and when gardai tried to pull him over, he led them on a chase.

The van crashed into a high kerb and Tighe got out and ran with a handgun. The detectives chased Tighe through a housing estate where they saw him toss the gun into a front garden.

They then noticed a woman in an upstairs window signalling that he was downstairs. They went into the house and found him on the couch. He had been wearing two sets of clothes and had stripped down to the second set. The gun was found in the garden and another pistol was found in the van.

Yesterday, Tighe was jailed for four years at Dublin Circuit Court after he admitted possession of a .38 Special revolver and a 9mm semi-automatic handgun at Clonshaugh Drive on March 3, 2012.

He is already serving a jail term for violent disorder and he was on bail for this crime when he was arrested in March.

A source said: "There is no doubt that Mr Tighe is a very dangerous individual -- he wants to be a gangster -- he aspires to the life of a gang boss."

He has formed close links with a north inner-city gang which has been involved in a feud with the mob led by paedophile gangster Christy Griffin.

kfoy@herald.ie