Contract killer gets life for gang murder

An Irish terrorist imported to the mainland to take part in an underworld war was jailed for life at the Old Bailey yesterday.

Michael Boyle, a contract killer, was found guilty of attempting to murder Tony Brindle during a long blood feud between two rival gangland families which had led to eight deaths on the streets of London.

Ordering that Boyle, 49, of Inchicore, Dublin, should serve at least 15 years, the Recorder of London, Sir Lawrence Verney QC, said: "Of all classes of killer, the contract killer must be regarded as the worst; a man who is prepared to offer his services to take a life of someone totally unknown to him, and to do so for payment.

"In this case, there is a background of a feud which has lasted over many years and has cost eight lives, and it is something of a miracle that there was not a ninth life lost as a result of your conduct."

Boyle's co-defendant, David Roads, 51, of Croydon, south London, was convicted of possessing an explosive substance, firearms, and handling stolen goods. He was sentenced to 10 years. The jury was told Roads had acted as a quartermaster in the operation to shoot Brindle and had armed Boyle, a former intelligence officer with both the IRA and INLA.

The Old Bailey was told how the vicious war between the Brindle family and another family called Daly, in south London, claimed at least eight lives in five years.

During the Ulster ceasefire, paramilitary gunmen began to be used by gangsters in Britain to carry out contract hits. The Brindles and the Dalys had links with Ireland. The Dalys had worked with drugs baron George Mitchell in the South.

The Brindles did business with the loyalists of east Belfast. This connection brought Boyle to London from his native Dublin. He had contact withcriminals in Dublin, especially Mitchell, and had served a 12-year sentence for kidnapping.

Boyle also acted as a Gardai informer and told them about the contract on the Brindles. His handler warned him not to get involved but stressed that he should continue his close contact with Mitchell to get information on drugs. The details were passed on by Dublin to Scotland Yard.

A police surveillance team kept watch on potential targets in the Brindle family, the court was told. They were disguised as gas men when Boyle arrived. Despite the police watchBrindle was shot three times on his doorstep in Rotherhithe, south London. Undercover officers then shot Boyle before he could finish the job.