Robbie Lawlor

Robert Lawlor (1985 – 4 April 2020) was an Irish criminal. He was originally from Dublin, but had lived in County Meath and was heavily involved in organised crime, including the Drogheda feud. Well known to Gardaí, Lawlor was a suspect in at least five murders, including the mutilation and killing of Keane Mulready-Woods, and had over 100 convictions at the time of his death.

Early and personal life Born in 1985, Lawlor was from Foxhill in Coolock. In his later life, Lawlor was addicted to cocaine and steroids.

Criminal career Lawlor was involved in crime from the age of eighteen, In 2005, he was sentenced to jail for seven years after pleading guilty to possession of cocaine and handling a stolen vehicle. Also in 2005, Lawlor is believed to have been the man behind the murder of Mark Byrne, shot dead while on day release from Mountjoy Prison.

Lawlor worked as a gunman for hire, killing for cash. He was suspected of murdering David "Fred" Lynch, a former associate of his whose body was found on waste ground near Belcamp in Dublin in 2009. Lawlor was believed to have carried out hits for Lynch's gang, but was said to have killed Lynch in a double cross. Lawlor and associate Noel Deans had organised to meet Lynch to retrieve a buried gun, but Lawlor shot him with it. While in prison on these charges, he unsuccessfully attempted to escape prison in 2016, having attempted to attack security guards while in the Mater Hospital.

In 2018, Lawlor's former associate Ken Finn was shot dead; Lawlor was again the prime suspect for this.

In 2019, Lawlor went on trial, accused of threatening to murder his ex-girlfriend Rachel Kirwan, her partner Derek Mitchell and his mother Fiona, as well as attempting to murder Fiona and murdering her pet dog. Shots had been fired at Mitchell's home, resulting in her pet dog dying. After it emerged that Kirwan had made false statements about Lawlor during proceedings, Lawlor was found not guilty and released from custody. He moved to Laytown in County Meath after his release, as the crime boss known as "Mr. Big" had made it clear he would not be welcome in north Dublin.

On 5 July 2018, Owen Maguire was shot six times by a gunman at his home in Drogheda. Maguire, who was left paralysed by the shooting, was an associate of Cornelius Price and a leader of one of the factions in the feud. Lawlor was arrested after being caught speeding towards the North, covered in petrol and stripped of most of his clothes, but was released without charge. In November 2022, Lawlor was named in court documents submitted by the Criminal Assets Bureau as the gunman who had shot Owen Maguire.

On 4 November 2019, Richie Carberry was shot dead at his home. Gardaí believed a young associate of David "Fred" Lynch, the man Lawlor murdered in 2009, may have been the shooter, The assault was allegedly at the behest of a criminal foe of Lawlor. The next day, a sports bag containing human hands was found in Coolock. The discovery of a human head and hands beside a burning car in Drumcondra followed, with DNA tests confirming both were the severed body of Mulready-Woods. It was believed he was lured to his death, and his head and hands were severed from his body. A pair of flip-flops were found in the bag with Mulready-Woods's remains dumped in Coolock, interpreted as a threat not to cross Lawlor. It was believed that Lawlor had planned to dump parts of Mulready-Woods's body at Cornelius Price's compound in Gormanston.

Death On 4 April 2020, Lawlor was shot at around 11:50am outside a house in Etna Drive, Ardoyne in north Belfast. The PSNI and Garda Síochána believe he had travelled to Belfast in the hours before he was shot, possibly to collect debts. Both were also charged with possession of a 9mm pistol with intent to endanger life. He is wanted by the PSNI on charges of murder and possession of a firearm.