KINAHAN CARTEL HITMAN: Brit David Hunter gets life in jail for murder of Michael Barr

A BRITISH man has been given a mandatory life sentence in Ireland for his involvement in the murder of a dissident republican killed as part of the Kinahan-Hutch feud in Ireland.

David Hunter (pictured above) was one of two men who wore boiler suits and Freddie Kreuger masks when they stormed into The Sunset House pub in Dublin to shoot Michael Barr, 35, to death, on April 25 2016.

The killing is believed to have been part of an ongoing feud between rival Irish crime gangs the Kinahan Cartel and the Hutch gang.

The Kinahan Cartel, based in Ireland, the UK, Spain and Dubai, is said to have sparked it following the assassination of Gary Hutch, 34, in Marbella in September 2015.

Five months later Daniel Kinahan was the believed target of a shooting, in retribution for Hutch's death, at the Regency Hotel in Dublin, during a boxing weigh in.

Kinahan, 43, escaped, but his associate David Byrne, 32, was killed.

THUMBS UP: Tyson Fury (left) with Daniel Kinahan in an image the boxer tweeted in 2017 (Twitter)

Two months later Barr was shot dead and it is believed the Kinahans thought he was involved in the Regency shooting.

The ongoing feud has since claimed about 18 lives.

Daniel Kinahan made international headlines in June while he tried to re-invent himself as a boxing promoter, with Tyson Fury thanking him on Instagram for arranging a world title clash with Anthony Joshua.

But, the publicity stunt backfired, with many in the sport distanced themselves from Kinahan after the Irish authorities said they were still pursuing him over organised crime.

Barr's two assassins burst into the pub at around 9pm and he was shot five times in the head, once in the leg and once in the shoulder.

On Friday, after a six-week trial with 168 witnesses, the Special Criminal Court in Dublin ruled that Hunter, 41, was one of the men.

Hunter, who is originally from Liverpool, gave the court an address in Du Cane Road, White City, west London.

Eamon Cumberton, 30, of Mountjoy Street, Dublin, is already serving a life sentence after previously being found guilty of being the other gunman.

The pair were caught after their Audi A6 getaway car failed to properly ignite, leaving a stash of evidence behind.

Gardai found the murder weapon and three other guns, plus the boiler suits, ski masks and rubber masks.

discovered four guns including the murder weapon, boiler suits, ski masks and rubber masks on the back seat.

A “burner” phone with a number of missed calls and a bullet were found on grass nearby.

The trial heard Hunter’s DNA was found on one of the ski masks and a latex mask found in the car.

He claimed he was in Ireland at the time for a UB40 concert. He also claimed to have been there two months earlier, when he said he left a ski mask in the getaway car after he stole it.

But, he had no explanation for his DNA also being on the latex mask.

His defence counsel said he was “no James Bond but just a two-bit car thief”.

However, Hunter's personal mobile phone also received a call an hour after the murder from phones linked to the gang.

The judge said this was likely because they could not reach him on the burner phone which was dropped.

Mr Justice Alex Owens said Hunter's explanations were "implausible" and the court was sure of Hunter’s guilt and he was one of the two gunmen who entered the pub and murdered Michael Barr.

Martin Aylmer, 33, of Casino Park, Marino, Dublin, pleaded guilty to assisting the killers by buying six pre-paid mobile phones in the run-up to the murder. He was sentenced to six years.

Hunter was extradited to Ireland in 2019 after being arrested in the UK.

He was jailed for 21 months at Liverpool Crown Court in February 2017 for actual bodily harm and threats to kill against an ex-partner in April 2016 - the same month he shot Barr - and for threatening to kill a member of her family.

It is understood the British police, acting for the Gardai, gave Hunter the opportunity to give up those behind the murder plot, but he remained silent.