A man murdered in Co Down was a high-profile career criminal with loyalist paramilitary links who had been released on bail days before his killing.

Malcolm McKeown, from Meadowvale in Waringstown, was “shot in cold blood in broad daylight” at approximately 7.15pm on Monday, police said.

The 54-year-old’s vehicle was parked to the rear of the Co Down village’s Dewart’s Service Station on Main Street.

It is believed McKeown’s body was found by a group of young boys who had been playing in the area shortly before 9pm.

Detective Chief Inspector Peter Montgomery said that McKeown entered Dewart’s at around 7.15pm before walking back to his vehicle. It was at this stage he was shot.

“Mr McKeown, who was a father-of-three, was shot in cold blood in broad daylight and I have now launched a murder investigation,” he said.

One line of investigation may be whether the people responsible were alerted to his whereabouts as a result of his recent court appearances which led to his address being made public.

McKeown was well known to the PSNI and was considered one of the more prominent gangland figures in the North.

His gang were behind a spate of arson attacks on cars belonging to serving police officers in Banbridge and Craigavon.

Detectives from the PSNI’s Major Investigation Team (MIT) are now working through a list of suspects with grievances against McKeown. Top of the list are associates of Hugh McGeough, a rival drug dealer and former friend, who the career criminal paid to have murdered in 2011.

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