Mother blames son's murder on row over motorbike
The mother of a man murdered as he sat in a car in an affluent area of Dublin today blamed his death on a five year long row over a motorbike.
The shooting dead of 27-year-old Noel Roche in Clontarf a month ago was believed to have been the fifth brutal killing in a bloody feud between two rival south Dublin drugs gangs.
But his mother, Caroline Roche, denied he was a drug dealer or killer.
“Noel wasn’t like that, he would not go out and shoot anyone. He wasn’t into anything like that,” Mrs Roche said.
“I know what Noel was. He wasn’t a saint don’t get me wrong, there’s no saints walking around Dublin or any other part of Ireland ... I tell you something he was not what they are printing in the papers. I know he wasn’t.
“They are going round saying that he was the leader of a drugs gang that was going around killing people.”
Mr Roche, from Drimnagh, was shot in the head three times as he sat talking in a car on the busy Clontarf Road near the Yacht pub on November 15.
Gardai believed his murder was in retaliation for the shooting dead of Gavin Byrne, 30, from Firhouse and Darren Geoghegan, 26, from Drimnagh on November 13 in Firhouse.
But Mrs Roche said the killing was linked to a petty row which has escalated over the last five years. It was sparked, she claimed, by an argument between two young men over a motorbike.
“As far as I know this all started years ago. People don’t realise, it’s so simple, two young fellas took to arguing over a stupid motorbike five years ago,” she told RTE Radio.
One of her other sons, John, was shot dead while walking along Military Road in Kilmainham last March.
“It escalated to houses being shot, my own house was shot up twice in two weeks, just because Noel and John knew one of the fellas that had been arguing,” Mrs Roche said.
“Then it went on to cars being burned and different things like that, and then it ended up with someone getting killed on the Crumlin Road and then it ended with young fellas being shot in the houses. People were running in and shooting them in their beds.
“It’s just madness, total madness.”
Detectives investigating the death had claimed it was drug-related, and the 20th gangland killing this year. They have offered a substantial cash reward for people with information about the murder.
People who believe they can help solve the Roche murder, and other linked killings, are being urged to call Crimestoppers on 1800 25 00 25.
So far, seven people, including Mr Roche’s brother, John, have died in the gangland feud.
Another man, believed to be an associate of Noel, escaped injury in the attack. He had been in the driver’s seat of the dark coloured Ford Mondeo car at the time but managed to run for his life.
In a follow-up investigation by gardai, a handgun and other items were found in a vehicle abandoned near the scene of the shooting.
The pistol was discovered in a stolen Peugeot 307 car found abandoned in the Furry Park area of Killester. Two men were reported to have been seen running from the beige coloured vehicle minutes after the attack.
Other items of clothing, thought to include a balaclava, were also found in the car.
