Suspect in Lordship garda killing probe has tattoo of images connected to crime

The artwork is featured in the new book Murder at Lordship, by Irish Independent journalist Robin Schiller and Pat Marry, detailing the investigation to catch the gang involved in the murder.

Det Gda Donohoe (41) was shot dead at Lordship Credit Union near Dundalk on January 25, 2013, after being ambushed while on a cash escort.

One of the chief suspects in the investigation was Brendan ‘Benny’ Treanor (34), who gardaí believed was one of the men involved in the robbery.

He was tried before the Special Criminal Court last year and, while being acquitted of the robbery, the three judges found he was a wider member of the crime group involved.

During the trial, it emerged Mr Treanor had a “gangster” tattoo inked across his upper back in 2018 – five years after the murder.

It features images linked to the raid, including a pistol, bullets, a wad of notes, four gangsters and a long-barrelled gun over the roof of a BMW car.

Four men were involved in the robbery, a long-barrelled shotgun was used to murder the detective, and a BMW car was “central” to the crime, having been used to steal the getaway car and collect the gang after the armed raid.

The registration plate of the car in the tattoo reads “Boss BFT”, which gardaí believe was an acronym for Brady, Flynn, Treanor.

Crossmaglen man Aaron Brady (33) is serving a life sentence with a minimum of 40 years imprisonment for the capital murder of Det Gda Donohoe, while last December, James Flynn (33) was jailed for eight years for conspiring to steal the getaway car used in the robbery.

During the trial, the prosecution alleged the tattoo was a “pictorial admission” by Mr Treanor of his involvement in the robbery.

Senior counsel Brendan Grehan said the artwork is “almost a glorification” of what happened, and it was an act of hubris by Mr Treanor to have the tattoo done after being spoken to by police about the murder.

The tattoo also featured a woman in a balaclava holding a gun to her lips. The prosecution said that in the early stages of the inquiry, it was investigated if a woman drove the getaway car.

The non-jury court accepted the tattoo as evidence, with Mr Justice Tony Hunt in his judgment describing it as the “most striking and colourful” part of the case against Mr Treanor.

He said the defendant had the tattoo applied “out of a sense of impunity”, that it signified his approval of the crime at Lordship, and that it was a “despicable declaration” on his part.

“Brendan Treanor had more than an artistic interest in gangsterism, it was more active and concrete,” the judge said, adding that the tattoo could be “regarded as a pictorial admission that he was a member of the gang in the broad sense and that he approved”.

However, Mr Justice Hunt found that the tattoo “does not unequivocally” show that Mr Treanor was one of the four men at Lordship that night and there was no evidence he was questioned “under statutory instrument” about “what he had in mind when he took the extraordinary step to put it on his back”.

The court said that, while Mr Treanor was “closely associated with” and “supported, participated and approved” of the gang’s activities, there was insufficient evidence to convict him.

‘Murder at Lordship’, by retired Detective Inspector Pat Marry and journalist Robin Schiller, is published this week by Allen & Unwin.