Victim had expected punishment beating

A man who was shot and died after being dumped at a Dublin hospital had met his killers believing he might be assaulted in a punishment beating.

Gardaí believe 35-year-old Christopher Warren from St Teresa’s Gardens, Dolphin’s Barn, Dublin, had assaulted a woman late last week and had been summoned to meet a number of men close to her.

Intelligence suggests Warren believed he would be beaten in order to settle the issue, but instead a handgun was discharged, fatally wounding him.

Gardaí believe the people at the scene may have panicked and bundled Warren into a car. They drove him to his partner’s house and then a number of other locations before he was finally taken to St James’s Hospital. He arrived at 7pm and was pronounced dead a short time later.

A prolific burglar, he was on temporary release from jail when he was killed. He was shot in the Constitution Hill area of the north inner city.

Gardaí believe they know the identities of those at the scene when he was shot; a man from Coolock, Dublin, was being questioned last night. More arrests are imminent.

While the dead man’s brother Paul Warren (24) was shot dead in 2004 as part of the Crumlin-Drimnagh gangland feud, Friday’s murder is not being linked to that dispute.