https://www.herald.ie/news/notorious-criminal-officially-warned-of-threat-to-his-life-from-two-rival-gangs-38830594.htmlNotorious criminal officially warned of threat to his life from two rival gangsKen Foy, Crime Correspondent – 03 January 2020 02:30 AM
Notorious Dublin criminal Robbie Lawlor has been officially warned by gardai about an active threat against his life.
Senior sources have revealed that the threats against the gangster are coming from two crime factions - the 'Mr Big' drugs mob and associates of criminal Cornelius Price.
In recent days Lawlor (35) was served with a Garda Information Message - known as a GIM form.
They are issued to individuals against whom there is a credible and serious threat of being murdered.
Lawlor was issued with a GIM form and offered security advice as detectives investigate sightings of "suspicious cars" near his home in Laytown, Co Meath, during the festive period.
Shooting
Gardai have been braced for gangland violence ever since Lawlor was released from jail on December 16, but despite threats "flying around" there have been no major incidents yet.
Lawlor walked free from Cloverhill Prison after a charge of assaulting his ex-girlfriend causing her harm was dropped.
A week earlier he was cleared by a jury of threatening to murder his ex-girlfriend's partner as well as four other serious charges including possession of a firearm and shooting his partner's mother's dog called Chopper.
Shortly before Christmas, a video emerged on social media showing Lawlor being confronted by another man who is believed to have close links to slain criminal David 'Fred' Lynch.
The video shows a number of men on the street confronting Lawlor before he is struck in the face.
Lawlor then appears to throw a punch toward another man before taking a few steps back and laughing.
He is then told "that's only the start" and is hit on the head by the gang as it confronts him in the Jervis Street area of the city centre.
Later postings on social media claimed that the men who attacked Lawlor had managed to take gym gear from him but this has not been verified.
However, Lawlor has much more serious things to worry about after gardai received information that his rivals are planning to murder him.
One of these factions is controlled by feared hood Cornelius Price who came back to Ireland last month after one of his gangland rivals threatened to murder a close female relative of his.
Lawlor was targeted by associates of Price while on remand in jail and in October 2018 he was stabbed in Cork Prison after getting in a row with Price.
Sources say Lawlor has "vowed to take revenge" on Price and his mob.
However, Price's gang is also gunning for Lawlor, whose brother-in-law Richie Carberry (39) was shot dead in Bettystown, Co Meath, in November in a mob hit which is suspected of being carried out by the 'Mr Big' drugs gang.
This mob is also suspected of wanting to now murder Lawlor and it has access to even more cash and firearms than the Price gang.
Lawlor's associates have been previously linked to a string of unsolved gun murders.
These include the murder of Mr Big's right-hand man Ken Finn (36) who died after being shot in the head in Darndale in February 2018.
The Finn murder, combined with the recent fatal shooting of Richie Carberry, has made the two mobs mortal enemies.
Mr Big's crew is considered the biggest drug-dealing organisation on the northside and has also been involved in tiger kidnappings.
Dangerous
Tensions remain high in Lawlor's patch of Coolock, with detectives keeping a close watch on the situation amid fears that matters may escalate at any point.
A security bulletin was issued to all Dublin garda stations ahead of Lawlor's release from prison last month advising that officers "should exercise extreme caution" when approaching the dangerous father-of-three.
Lawlor had been locked up in jail since being charged with the offences which mostly related to incidents in 2018.
He has over 124 previous criminal convictions including a 16-month sentence imposed in April 2015, for possessing a stolen car.
