Police in Belfast have charged two men with the murder of Dubliner Robbie Lawlor who was shot dead in the Ardoyne area in April.
The two suspects, aged 37 years and 45 years, were being questioned by the PSNI in recent days and have now been charged with his murder. They were set to appear before the courts in Belfast on Friday.
Lawlor (36) was originally from north Dublin but had lived in Laytown, Co Meath, for a period and was involved on the drugs scene in the northeast, with his brother-in-law Richard Carberry.
When the Drogheda feud erupted 2½ years ago the gang Lawlor and Carberry were aligned to gained the upper hand, carrying out a series of gun attacks that wounded, but did not kill, its rivals.
However, when a leading criminal aligned to the “losing side” in this feud returned to the north-east last year, the tide turned.
That man is suspected of three gun murders predating the feud.
His re-emergence after a period away was followed by the shooting dead of Keith Branigan at a Co Louth caravan park in August, 2019, and the shooting dead of Richard Carberry outside his home in Bettystown, Co Meath, in November, 2019.
Lawlor, who was freed from prison late last year after avoiding conviction on serious charges, was intent on seeking revenge for his brother-in-law’s murder.
He was the chief suspect for the killing and dismembering in January of Drogheda teenager Keane Mulready Woods (17).
Lawlor was shot dead outside a house on Etna Drive in the Ardoyne area on Saturday, April 4th. The PSNI has been following a definite line of inquiry since the murder.
