Rise and fall of Dublin gangster Fat Freddie

Rise and fall of Dublin gangster Fat Freddie

22 May 2019

ARROGANCE was behind the rise and fall of one of Dublin’s most notorious gangland bosses, Freddie Johnston.

In a gripping new book entitled Fat Freddie:  A gangster’s life – the bloody career of Freddie Thompson, Downpatrick journalist Stephen Breen tells the story of the mobster who 

is now languishing in jail for life for murder.

It’s the second book on the most vicious of Dublin’s crimeland figures from the  Crime Editor for the Irish Sun, who was named Crime Journalist of the Year in NewsBrands Journalism awards last year.  

Stephen and Irish Sun colleague Owen Conlon jointly wrote the 2017 bestseller The Cartel about the rise of the Kinahan gang and the deadly feud that shocked Ireland north and south.

Thompson was a close ally of Daniel Kinahan, who became a senior figure in his father Christy Kinahan’s international crime cartel. Working with the Kinahans, Thompson then launched himself as a drugs dealer in Dublin.

A row erupted in 2000 over a failed drugs deal which ignited a murderous feud in Dublin’s south inner city area of Crumlin.

The first victim of the Crumlin-Drimnagh feud was a childhood friend of Thompson’s. 

He vowed revenge and led his Crumlin crew in a series of tit-for-tat killings in which 16 young men would lose their lives over 12 years.

His reputation set, Thompson went on to become an internationally wanted criminal in Spain and Amsterdam. 

However, his influence within the Kinahan gang increased during a split between the Kinahans and veteran mobster Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch in 2016 and he went on to become one of their staunchest allies.

Thompson was eventually convicted in August last year for the murder of David Douglas in 2016.

Stephen, a former student of De La Salle High School, Downpatrick, lived in the town from the age of four until he moved to the Republic of Ireland in 2009 when he began to work for the Irish Sun.

He explained what inspired him to devote a whole book to Thompson.

“When I first came down to Dublin ten years ago, I had to get to grips with the various criminal gangs who were operating in the city,” he said.

“Freddie Thompson was one of the first criminals I was made aware of because he was very active and because of his involvement in serious organised crime.

“Although  my colleague Owen and I did the book on the Kinahan cartel, I has just amassed so much information on Thompson over the years I would like to do a project on my own.”

Stephen says that this latest book is a chronology of Freddie Thompson’s life and growth in organised crime.

“There was a previous book written about Thompson’s involvement in the Crumlin-Driminagh feud in which 16 young men lost their lives, but this is different as his ending is now complete as he’s serving life for murder. His story is organised crime has a start, a middle and now it has an end, so that’s what compelled me to do this book.

“Thompson is someone who gradually grew into his life. His first conviction at 16 for a public order offence for anti-social behaviour. Then it progresses to assault of a man for no reason. Then when his best friend Declan Gavin is killed, he seems to embark on this cycle of violence.

“For me he’s someone who seems to thrive on violence and to enjoy violence and intimidation. That’s his stock and why he rose within this gang of drug dealers for his propensity for violence. His reputation grows and I think he feeds of that. Of course, his arrogances was also his driving force,” he added.

Father-of-two Stephen, who worked previously with the Belfast Telegraph and Sunday Life, said that as part of his research for the book he interviewed

criminologist John O’Keefe and psychiatrist Rob Daly for their understanding of what drives a young man into organised crime.

“I’m not an expert, but for me Thompson is someone who enjoyed the pressure of being at the top of this type of organisation who obviously enjoyed the high life with all his trips to Spain and Amsterdam,” he said.

“He couldn’t even go to the shop for a pint of milk as there was always someone waiting to kill him so I don’t understand how he coped with the pressure, being constantly stopped by the Gardai and his life being in danger.”

Known for his extraordinary ability to get interviews with people with other journalists fail — particularly the partner of Trevor O’Neill, the innocent man murdered and wrongly targeted while holiday in Majorca in 2016 — Stephen has also written the book with insight from Gardi interviews of Thompson.

• The Down Recorder has three copies of Fat Freddie: A gangster’s life – the bloody career of Freddie Thompson (Penguin Ireland @18) to give away. To get a copy contact the Recorder, leaving your name, address and telephone number, by next Tuesday, May 28.