Innocent women forced to flee homes as 'Mr Flashy' mob feud escalates in Finglas

Senior sources say that it is estimated that there are around 50 people involved in the current gang war in the Finglas area, with at least a dozen of these participants being aged 16 or under.

Like many of the children involved in the Finglas warfare, young Keane got sucked into the deadly Drogheda feud and was gruesomely murdered.

Gardai fear that a murder is imminent in this gang dispute.

Sources say that the teenagers are being encouraged by older criminals, including thugs linked to gun victim Eric Fowler on one side and jailed gang psychopath Trevor Byrne on the other side.

On Thursday, gardaí raided a safe house controlled by one of the gangs - the 'Mr Flashy' mob - who are under severe pressure after three different crime crews united against them because of their vicious assault on a 15-year-old boy a fortnight ago.

Gardaí recovered two firearms, more than €47,000 in cash and 300 rounds of ammunition during the operation which was backed up by members of the Emergency Response Unit (ERU).

All the women who have fled Dublin for the south-east of the country are innocent and have been targeted because of their close connections to 'Flashy'.

Gardaí believe that 28-year-old 'Mr Flashy' - described as "a windy little brat" by senior sources and a "dirty little rat" by his gangland rivals - is finally running out of road as a feud that is escalating in the troubled northside suburb is terrifying ordinary people.

The Sunday World is aware that at least one business in Finglas has had to close down in recent months because of intimidation and vandalism from the teenage foot soldiers involved in the northside's latest feud.

We are not naming the business, but local sources say that they had been "tortured out of their minds" by the unrelenting actions of the juvenile thugs, who acted with impunity until they forced the business to shut up shop.

"Yeah, the media is talking about the raid on Flashy's safe house and guns seized and all that, but people out here are scared," a well-placed source said.

"By scared, I mean scared, a young man is abducted in the middle of the day and it is all over social media - its lucky they did not kill him."

This is a reference to an incident on Wednesday where an innocent victim was forced into a car in the Finglas area by a group of young men who were armed with a hammer.

Footage of the incident shared on social media showed the group dragging the man into a people carrier before the vehicle sped off.

The victim suffered serious injuries but is expected to make a full recovery.

"Decent people out here are used to violence but this seems different, there is a feeling in the air.

"What you have out here is teenagers as young as 14 with access to serious weapons - grenades as you saw this week - they are completely out of control and very volatile.

"They all have the Canada Goose jackets, the electric scooters, they are dealing crack cocaine and they could not give a b****x about the police or anyone else.

"They are all goading each other up on social media and driving themselves nuts. They don't seem to care about anything," the source said.

The Sunday World first revealed that the mayhem - involving bomb attacks, shootings and vicious assaults - started because of a row over a designer watch.

A source has said the gang led by 'Mr Flashy' is under "severe pressure" after a number of rival mobs joined forces to target his crew .

Tensions were further raised when a close associate of the gangster was attacked and had a high-end watch stolen from him on a Dublin Bus.

This has led to a number of tit-for-tat incidents, including an attack last Monday night where an innocent family had a lucky escape when a bomb - believed to be a grenade - was thrown at their home as part of an escalating gangland feud.

Gardaí are working on the theory that rival thugs decided to target the home of another innocent woman who is closely linked to the gangster.

"In fact, what they were targeting was a log cabin that 'Mr Flashy's' closest associate often stays in, but they hit the wrong property," a source said.

The bungling gangsters targeted the wrong house and the suspected grenade exploded in the back garden of the property causing damage to a door and a window and leaving "a large hole in the ground."

The Sunday World has learned that the innocent target of the attack has now fled her home.

Hours before the bomb attack she had been "rushed" by a number of teenagers in a local shop who ran up to her on the pretence of being armed with weapons before running off.

"She is an innocent woman who has nothing to do with Flashy's behaviour - yet she has had to run and it seems all his associates are under the severest of pressure. Innocent or not,"

'Mr Flashy' was mentored by Kinahan cartel criminal Trevor Byrne (41) who is serving lengthy sentences for separate firearms offences, armed robbery and false imprisonment.