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fatal shooting of Gavin McCarthy may not be directly related to a local feud, gardai now believe. However, they suspect McCarthy may have been killed after he allegedly struck a young woman with links to the rival faction in a local feud. Ballistics officers have carried out tests on a handgun which they believe was used in the shooting in Sheriff Street in Dublin's north inner city. The weapon was recovered in a search of the area by gardai. Experts are now trying to establish if the gun has been used in other shootings and this may help them determine whether members of the feuding gangs were involved in the incident. But detectives are also aware that McCarthy (21) was involved in drug dealing and are looking at the possibility that he could have upset other dealers by attempting to extend his "territory". Forensic tests have also been carried out on several bicycles recovered from the streets around the murder scene after witnesses reported that the killer made his es...

Police believe a riot between two rival gangs in Co Londonderry was organised over the internet. Officers were attacked by a mob of up to 100 youths who hurled bricks, bottles and other missiles as they tried to deal with the disturbance in the Academy Street area of Rosemount on Friday night. Violence broke out at about 10.15pm after a row between two individuals escalated when their friends intervened. Police said they are investigating claims that trouble was orchestrated through social networking websites. Four teenagers were arrested for public order offences as large crowds gathered in the Rosemount area. They were later released, pending further reports. A PSNI spokesman said at least one police vehicle had been damaged during the disturbance. There were no reports of any injuries. Meanwhile, in a separatedisturbance in Co Armagh police were pelted with stones and bottles as they tried to arrest two men in connection with an armed robbery. Trouble broke out in the Drumbeg area o...

The criminal activity being probed includes damage to dwellings and vehicles, assaults, houses burgled and the occupants attacked and threatened ongoing cross-border probe into the horrific killing of the young South Armagh man, Paul Quinn, 21, who was bludgeoned to death at a shed on the republic side of the border in Co Monaghan last October, has led to the exposure in recent days of a crime web involving a number of self-styled 'Untouchables'.And it is understood the gang's reputed ring-leader, who is in his mid-twenties, is based in north Louth, but also operates in the south Armagh area.This emerged earlier in the week in the wake of disclosures relating to the theft of vehicles and other machinery from sites in the border area.Detectives probing the movements of some former associates of the murder victim are now believed to have obtained the names of a number of individuals involved in a recent spate of criminal incidents in the south Armagh and north Louth areas.Som...