SENIOR gardai investigating the murder of the Limerick bouncer Brian Fitzgerald say a supergrass in the witness protection programme has “blown the whole Limerick scene” and will help in the prosecutions of high-profile criminals.

The supergrass, who was arrested for an unrelated crime elsewhere in the country, has strong links to the Kelly gang, which operates in Limerick and Munster, and is expected to testify against several of the region’s gangland leaders.

A senior garda on the investigation said: “It’s quality in this case, not just quantity. It was a long, detailed investigation and we got the key people. The person who is now in state protection has blown the whole scene wide open.”

Fitzgerald, a bouncer at Doc’s nightclub, is believed to have been killed because he refused to allow drug dealers access to the club.

He died outside his home in November 2002 as he returned from work to his wife and children. He was shot three times in the body by a gunman who then shot him once in the back of the head, before fleeing the scene on a motorbike.

Fitzgerald’s murder generated a huge public response in Limerick, which is riven with gangland feuds, and led to a huge Garda investigation. But what started as an individual murder inquiry has grown into a broad-ranging examination of the Limerick underworld, and gardai expect to file a series of prosecutions against leading gangland figures.

One person has been charged with Fitzgerald’s murder. James Cahill, from Birmingham, is due to appear before the central criminal court later this month.

Garda sources say more people are likely to be charged in relation to the murder, and officers already have identified a number of individuals involved.

Last year two English men were convicted at the Old Bailey in London for making the CZ Model 75 9mm pistol recovered by gardai on the bed of the Mulcair River in Co Wicklow. The weapon is believed to have been used in Fitzgerald’s murder.

Robert Naylor, 49, and James Greenwood, 56, both from Lancashire, sold guns to a gang in Limerick through Manchester-based criminals. They received nine and 10-year prison sentences, respectively.

Ten arrests made in one day last month came as a result of information from the supergrass witness, according to gardai. The cases of the four men and six women, arrested in dawn raids across Limerick, have “already been processed,” said the Garda source, and files have been sent to the director of public prosecutions (DPP).

Gardai have refrained from discussing the case until now for fear of suspects fleeing or destroying evidence, but they now believe they have amassed significant leads and will make a major breakthrough against organised crime in the city.

Special branch investigators are no longer in Limerick but are due to return for further raids “once the situation pans out a bit further” in the coming weeks and months.

Chief Superintendent Willie Keane of Limerick last week refused to comment on testimony given by any witnesses or on any arrests that might be forthcoming, and said he was happy with how the investigation is progressing but that it is far from finished.

“We’re going to take it one step at a time, and we really don’t want to be broadcasting what we’re going to do,” said Keane.

“It was a very difficult investigation, which has gone on two and a half years. We’re dealing with fairly big players here and we don’t want to do anything that will give them the upper hand.”

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