Getaway driver in Lee Boylan murder attempt jailed for 10 years

The getaway driver in a bid by an organised crime gang to murder Lee Boylan in west Dublin has been jailed for 10 years.

Alan Graham (49) of Davin Gardens, Cahirdavin, Limerick, pleaded guilty last January to having knowledge of the existence of a criminal organisation and participating in activities with the intention of facilitating the commission by the criminal organisation of the offence of attempted murder of Mr Boylan (26) or being reckless as to same, at Blakestown Road, Mulhuddart, Dublin 15, on March 6th, 2019.

Passing sentence on Friday, Mr Justice Michael White said this was "a well-planned attack" with a sophisticated degree of surveillance and was carried out "at the behest of a criminal organisation", which believed that Mr Boylan had been involved in a previous attack.

The judge said Mr Boylan was shot three times at close range and his life was saved due to a “fortuitous fluke” when his gunshot wounds formed an abnormal connection between an artery and a vein that stopped him from bleeding out.

Although Mr Boylan did not co-operate with the investigation it was likely he would have life-long injuries, he added.

The judge said Graham could not have been “more proximate” to the event other than the gunman, who was a senior member or one of the leaders of this criminal organisation.

There was also a strong possibility that the accused had become involved in the attack as he owed a drug debt, he said.

The Central Criminal Court was told during last month's sentence hearing that Mr Boylan sustained three gunshot wounds to his shoulder and neck as he sat in his van in a highly populated area in west Dublin. His three-year-old child usually travelled with him, but was not there that day, the court heard.

Evidence was given that it was “a miraculous piece of medical luck” that the then 24-year-old survived and he would have bled to death if his carotid artery and jugular vein had not joined in a “arteriovenous fistula”, an abnormal connection between an artery and a vein that stopped the bleeding. The three bullets could not be removed from the victim and remain in his body.

The aggravating factors in the case were the accused’s proximity to the crime and his previous convictions.

Graham has 20 previous convictions in this jurisdiction, mainly for drug-related offences and one Canadian conviction for selling stolen passports.

The accused received a 10-year sentence in 2012 for possessing cocaine for sale and supply after being caught with €750,000 worth of cocaine and €200,000 in cash. He was released from prison in May 2018, about 10 months before this incident.

The judge said that the main mitigating factors were Graham’s early guilty plea, his personal circumstances and the strong possibility that he was under pressure to become involved in this attack as he owed a drug debt.

The defendant’s sentence hearing was told that he was still beholden to a debt as a result of the seizure of cocaine in 2010 and a previous bail hearing heard that he would “be forced to commit other serious crimes to repay” the debts upon his release from prison.

Mr Justice White sentenced Graham to 11 years’ imprisonment with the final year suspended, backdated to June 17th, 2019, when he went into custody.

Prosecution counsel Pauline Walley SC said the State wished to enter a nolle prosequi – a decision not to proceed with the case – on a charge of attempted murder.