After a gangland assassination left his face horribly mutilated, experts had to rebuild the face of Kinahan mobster David Byrne.
Byrne was shot six times in the head, face, chest, stomach, hand and legs in the attack during a boxing weigh-in at the Regency Hotel, North Dublin, on February 5, 2016.
Byrne’s family paid “several thousand” Euros for extensive facial reconstruction so that they could give the cartel gangster an open-casket funeral.
READ MORE: Gangland fixer Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch 'admitted he killed rival at boxing weigh-in'
Rival gangster Gerry “The Monk” Hutch is currently facing Dublin’s Special Criminal Court charged with Byrne’s murder. The court heard last week that Byrne's face had been "blown off" in the attack.
One eyewitness, well-known boxing figure Mel Christle, said it was clear that Byrne had died instantly and added: “The body on the ground was a corpse and his face had been blown off.”
A source told Dublin Live: “Byrne was unrecognisable. His family decided to take this path and it involves giving these specialists a picture for them to recreate what he did look like.
“And it cost several thousand euro, but you saw it with the rest of his funeral that no expense was spared. Gardai also had to be aware at the time as tensions were so high. An operation was put in place as the body was transported to and from this location.”
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Another source added: “People use this service a lot when victims die of traumatic incidents and it helps families cope or gives them a bit more closure in such situations.”
Gang boss Daniel Kinahan, his brother Christopher, now caged murderer “Fat” Freddie Thompson and Sean McGovern all attended and comforted David’s gangster brother Liam Byrne who cried carrying out the casket.
The trial continues.
Hutch, 59, denies the murder charge. Jason Bonney, 50, of Drumnigh Wood, Portmarnock, and Paul Murphy, 59, of Cherry Avenue, Swords, both North Dublin, are charged with participating in or contributing to the facilitation of the killing by providing motor vehicles for a criminal gang on February 5, 2016. They also deny the charges.
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