Analysis of mobile data the focus of investigation into gangland murder in Dublin, inquest hears
Seán McCárthaigh
The focus of the ongoing Garda investigation into a gangland murder in Dublin two and a half years ago is on an analysis of mobile phone data, an inquest has heard.
Brandon Ledwidge (23) of Barry Drive, Finglas, sustained a fatal gunshot wound when he answered the door at his home on November 18th 2023.
The fatal incident occurred when a lone gunman approached the house at around 6.50 pm and fired several shots as the door was opened by the deceased.
Emergency services alerted to the shooting tried to save the victim’s life before Ledwidge was transferred to Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown, where he was formally pronounced dead a short time later.
A postmortem subsequently confirmed he died from a gunshot wound to the chest.
At a brief hearing of Dublin District Coroner’s Court on Tuesday, Detective Inspector Dara Kenny sought a six-month adjournment of the inquest into Ledwidge’s death.
Kenny said the investigation into the murder was “ongoing and progressing.”
He told the coroner Clare Keane that the thrust of the investigation was on an analysis of data from mobile phones.
Kenny said he hoped he would be in a position to “say more” about the case at the next hearing.
Dr Keane granted the application and adjourned the inquest until December 15, 2026 for a further update on the progress of the investigation.
At the opening of the inquest into Ledwidge’s death in June 2024, his mother, Sabrina, gave evidence of formally identifying her son’s body to gardaí at the Dublin City Mortuary in Whitehall on the day after his murder.
The fatal shooting of Ledwidge, who was known to gardai, was regarded as the first gangland murder in the Republic in 2023.
One line of inquiry being investigated by gardaí is that the victim was targeted because associates believed he was planning to take control of their criminal gang.
The deceased was due to appear in court a few days after he was killed to face three separate charges for the possession of drugs, including heroin and cocaine, for the purpose of sale or supply.
It is understood relatives of the victim were also warned by his former associates to leave their home in Finglas or risk being targeted.
Detectives were also investigating reports that the deceased had been involved in a fist fight with a relative of the prime suspect on the day before he was murdered.
It was reported that the chief suspect for Ledwidge’s murder presented himself to gardaí for questioning about the incident after walking into a Garda station in Dublin at the end of November 2023.
Mourners at Ledwidge’s funeral were told by his brother, Kaci, that his late brother was “a party animal” who always had “a big fat joint in your mouth and a hammer in your pocket.”
Before the start of the requiem mass at St Canice’s Church in Finglas, large groups of masked youth on motorcycles performed wheelies as a tribute to the murder victim.
Later that evening, a row broke out in the car park of a pub in Cabra among people who had attended the funeral, with two people suffering slash injuries.
They included convicted killer Derek Boyd (29) who had accidentally shot his sister, Sandra, dead in March 2022.
