Jailed gangster Thompson did not seek pass to attend funeral of cousin Roe
Compassionate time out would have been refused over security fears
Killer ‘Fat’ Freddie Thompson has not applied for temporary release from prison to attend his cousin Liam Roe’s funeral or to visit the funeral home in Crumlin where his body reposed yesterday.
Even if the convicted murderer had sought to get out for a few hours, his request would have been turned down.
“No way – there would be too much of a security threat around this individual being released, and also his behaviour in custody has been very poor, to say the least,” a source said.
Thompson (43), who was three years younger than Roe, grew up with the Kinahan cartel-aligned criminal, but the pair were said to be “not very close” in recent years.
Thompson is locked up in the country’s highest security prison, in Portlaoise, after spending several months in Cork Prison.
Roe died in Dublin’s St James’s Hospital on Tuesday after a short illness.
A garda presence is expected at his funeral at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church in Drimnagh tomorrow morning, like there was at the funeral home yesterday.
As Roe’s family and friends paid their respects last evening, another of Roe’s first cousins, Liam Byrne, and Byrne’s brother-in-law, Thomas ‘Bomber’ Kavanagh, appeared at an Old Bailey hearing in a video link from Belmarsh Prison in London.
The pair, from Crumlin, are charged with firearms offences in connection with a stash of guns discovered by police.
Another Kinahan cartel member, Peadar Keating, is fighting extradition to the UK to face charges over the same firearms plot.
At a previous hearing in the Old Bailey, the court heard the trial is likely to be complex and could last as long as two months.
Yesterday, Judge Philip Katz said he saw no reason why the trial should not begin as scheduled next Monday, with jury selection to take place over two days the following week before the case is opened by the prosecution.
Yesterday, the condolence section on the RIP.ie death notice for Roe was disabled because of comments left by internet trolls and people putting up fake expressions of sympathy.
Gardaí regarded Roe as being a key figure in the Kinahan cartel that controlled a large portion of Ireland’s drugs trade.
Roe became a major target for gardaí following the Regency Hotel shooting in February 2016 as they cracked down on the Hutch and Kinahan organised crime groups.
He had been present during the hotel attack during a boxing match weigh-in, and was pictured outside with associates after his first cousin David Byrne was shot dead.
The Criminal Assets Bureau (Cab) identified Roe as a key player in the Byrne organised crime group, effectively the Irish ‘branch’ of the international Kinahan cartel.