Freddie Thompson (Irish criminal)

Freddie Thompson is an Irish criminal connected to the Crumlin-Drimnagh feud who was also convicted of the murder of David Douglas.[1]

Early life

He was born in 1980 and grew up in the Maryland area of south-inner city Dublin.[1] He first came to the attention of an Garda Síochána in his teens for car theft and related offences.[1]

He was a cousin of Liam Byrne whose brother David who was shot in February 2016.[2]

Thompson assumed control of the Dublin branch of the Kinahan gang after Gerry Kinahan was jailed in 1997 in relation to stolen cheques.[3]

During 2007-2008 he was involved with a feud with the INLA when caused him to flee Dublin several times.[3] Because of this, Liam Byrne gradually assumed control of the Dublin branch of the gang.[3]

Ambush

In 2008 he was travelling in a Four-wheel drive car in Spain with Paddy Doyle and Gary Hutch, a nephew of Gerry Hutch when they were ambushed and Doyle was shot dead.[1] (Gary Hutch was shot at the start of the Hutch–Kinahan feud.[1])

Extradition to Spain

Thompson was extradited to Spain in 2011 after Spanish authorities linked him to an organisation based in the Costa del Sol, namely the Kinahan gang.[1] He was allowed to return to Ireland in 2013.[1] He was wanted in Spain on three charges - unlawful assembly, drugs charges and possession of weapons and arms trafficking.[4] Spanish authorities claimed that he procured weapons for the organisation and is a bodyguard and chauffeur.[4]

Thompson submitted a statement of means claiming he had no income.[4] Counsel for the state asked how Thompson could support himself when he did not claim welfare, was not registered for business or tax yet travelled around Europe.[4] Thompson claimed he was supported by his mother.[4] The judge found the statement of means very unsatisfactory and refused free legal aid.[4]

Extradition from Netherlands

In May 2014 he was arrested by Dutch police on foot of an international arrest warrant.[5] He was extradited from Amsterdam and held in custody.[5][6] It was related to a brawl on 7 January 2013, at Morriseys' pub, Cork Street, "sparked by slagging" after a funeral.[6]

In February 2015 he pleaded guilty to violent disorder for which he was jailed.[1][6] At the time of the Garda investigation Thompson had 29 previous convictions.[6] Judge Martin Nolan said that Thompson had probably caused the brawl and that he had thrown a bottle at someone.[6] He also described the brawl as "a quite serious fracas" in which many people were involved.[6] Thompson pleaded guilty and his sentence was backdated to 23 May 2014, the date he was first remanded.[6]

Murder of David Douglas

In July 2016, David Douglas was murdered and Thompson was charged with the murder that November.[1][7] In August 2018, Thompson was convicted of the murder.[1][8]

References
  1. Schiller, Robin (1 September 2018), 'Fat' Freddie Thompson: from juvenile car thief to feared gangland criminal, Irish Independent, retrieved 1 September 2018
  2. Foy, Ken (9 February 2016). "Convicted criminal 'Fat' Freddie Thompson 'had blood on clothes' when arrested last night". Irish Independent. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  3. Lally, Conor (30 March 2019). "Liam Byrne: Daniel Kinahan's lieutenant in Dublin". Irish Times. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  4. "Freddie Thompson to be extradited to Spain". RTE News. 20 October 2011. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  5. "Dutch police hold Irish man wanted by Gardaí". Irish Examiner. 6 May 2014. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  6. MacLean, Sonya (3 February 2015). "'Fat Freddie' jailed for funeral brawl". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  7. "Freddie Thompson charged with murder of David Douglas". TheJournal.ie. 7 November 2016. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  8. "Freddie Thompson found guilty of feud murder of David Douglas". TheJournal.ie. 30 August 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
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