LIMERICK CRIMINAL GER Dundon, a former member of the city’s infamous McCarthy/Dundon gang, has been jailed for 15 years in the UK.

The 38-year-old of Hackney in London, who had formally changed his name to Darren McLean after he moved to the UK, was sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment on Friday at Wood Green Crown Court for his role in a blackmail and kidnap plot.

He was found guilty earlier this year of two charges of conspiracy to blackmail and one count of conspiracy to falsely imprison.

Dundon also received a further five years in prison for unrelated offences.

During his hearing, the court heard how two brothers from Stoke-on-Trent were subjected to blackmail threats after they travelled to London in July 2020.

In the days that followed their arrival in the city, mobile phones were used to demand over £300,000 to secure the release of one of the brothers.

The demands continued for a number of days until armed police stopped a yellow transit van on 16 July 2020 in Cambridgeshire, over 40km north of London.

Staffordshire Police said that when officers approached the van, Dundon deliberately damaged a mobile phone that he was carrying, which was later identified as being one of the phones used to make threats and demands.

The victim, who Dundon claimed was a friend, was found lying on a mattress inside the rear compartment of the van. He told police he had been threatened with violence and racially abused.

In a statement after Dundon’s sentencing on Friday, Deputy Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Sergeant Garry Jackson described the incident as “a terrifying experience for the victims” that had a profound impact on their family and friends.

“We’re pleased that McLean [Dundon] will now be serving a substantial sentence which reflects the seriousness of this disturbing crime,” he said.

Five other people were arrested and charged as part of the investigation, but found not guilty during the trial.The much-publicised feud between McCarthy/Dundon and Keane/Collopy drug gangs resulted in the deaths of at least 20 people in the early 2000s.

Huge amounts of Garda resources were sent to the city after the deaths of innocent men Roy Collins and Shane Geoghegan.

They were killed by gunmen associated with the McCarthy/Dundon gang. Following the jailing of John and Wayne Dundon for murder, the gang’s operations were greatly reduced.

Contains reporting by Niall O’Connor.