A man found dead in a blazing car was shot in the head before the vehicle was set alight, gardaí believe.

It is believed the victim, whose identity officers hope to confirm today, could have been the victim of a gangland double-cross.

The murder was discovered on Monday night, when emergency services were called to a car on fire on a quiet estate in Lucan, west Dublin.

They arrived at the scene in Mount Andrew Rise just after 8pm, and when firefighters extinguished the blaze, they found a body inside the car.

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The victim’s remains had not been conclusively identified last night.

However, he is believed to be a man in his early 40s from the Lucan area who only recently survived an attempt on his life.

The man was a very close associate of money launderer David Lynch (41), who was shot dead in nearby Foxdene last March.

The individual believed to have been killed on Monday night was involved in the murder of his former friend Mark ‘Guinea Pig’ Desmond in Lucan three years ago.

A post-mortem examination was due to be completed last night and Lucan gardaí are expected to officially launch a murder investigation once that is completed.

A source told the Irish Independent: “Gardaí are sure they know who it is but have to wait for tests to be completed for a formal identification.

“The man has not been sighted since and was under severe threat.

“Early indications are that he was sitting in the vehicle when he was shot dead and may have been meeting someone he trusted before he was double-crossed.”

Gardaí have also appealed for information on the vehicle that was set on fire, a 05 Carlow-registered Toyota Corolla which was sold only in recent weeks.

Shane Moynihan, a Fianna Fáil councillor and by-election candidate in Dublin Mid-West, condemned the suspected murder.

He added that Government inaction against violent drug crime has led to the situation getting out of hand.

“Families in Dublin Mid-West don’t need yet another announcement by Government promising an increase in Garda numbers,” he said.

“We must stop governing by press release and start getting these gardaí on to the streets of Dublin Mid-West.

“My thoughts are with those affected, in particular those in Mount Andrew who have to deal with the shock of what has happened on their doorsteps.”

One resident in the Mount Andrew estate told how he first heard a car horn beeping for a few minutes on Monday night.

When he looked out, he saw a car on the roadway close to where the Toyota was later found to be on fire.

“Thinking back, it was like the driver was beeping the horn trying to draw attention to the fact that the parked car was on fire and they wanted to raise the alarm,” he said.

“Then, a few minutes later, I looked out the back and I could see the flames from the burning car.”

Another local said they saw a taxi parked close to the scene, and said the driver seemed to be blowing the horn to raise the alarm.

“Our car was parked close to the burning one, so we ran over and moved it,” the resident said.

“We saw the other car in a ball of flames. It is terrible.”

Another local woman said: “This is a quiet area, but we sometimes see people arriving in cars and meeting other people and then driving away again.

“They are not people that live here.”

Gardaí have appealed for anyone with information to contact Lucan garda station on 01 666 7300 or to any Garda station.

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