HORRIFIED ONLOOKERS watched as a gang member was ruthlessly murdered by a masked gunman in broad daylight

HORRIFIED ONLOOKERS watched as a gang member was ruthlessly murdered by a masked gunman in broad daylight, Dublin Coroner’s Court heard. Anthony Cannon (26), from Robert Street in Rialto, Dublin, died when he was shot in the face at St Mary’s Avenue West in Ballyfermot on July 17th, 2009. Mr Cannon was wearing a bulletproof vest at the time but was chased down by his attacker, who then delivered the fatal shot at point-blank range. The incident happened at 3.30pm and was witnessed by a number of local residents who heard multiple shots being fired. In a deposition to the court, Amanda Power said that she saw the gunman chase Mr Cannon down before raising the gun to face level and shooting him above the eyes. A number of people went to help and when Mr Cannon was turned on his side, the back of his head fell away. The gunman, who was wearing a ski-mask, was seen making his escape on a motorbike driven by an accomplice. Mr Cannon was pronounced dead at the scene. The cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds to the head. His father Patrick Cannon told the court that he was not surprised to hear that his son had been shot. “There have been too many threats. From what I know, there had to have been four or five. They are the ones that I knew of from gardaí . . . I didn’t know where the threats were coming from. He wouldn’t tell me,” he said. The deceased was well known to Garda as a member of one of the gangs involved in the ongoing Crumlin-Drimnagh feud. However, he was not believed to be a significant figure. He had several criminal convictions for motoring offences and was due to stand trial for drink-driving and being in possession of a knife. Det Insp Colm O’Malley told the court that the deceased had been advised of threats to his life by the gardái and was wearing a bulletproof vest. However, on the day of his death he was on his way to meet some associates. “It would appear that he was lured to the scene by someone he knew and may have dropped his guard,” said Insp O’Malley. The jury returned a verdict of death by unlawful killing by person or persons unknown.

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