Derek "Maradonna" Dunne was a former League of Ireland soccer player turned drug dealer.
[3] In 1994 the North Central Divisional Drug Squad targeted him and a number of his close associates in an operation codenamed "Family Tree".
[3] In 1995 he attacked and seriously assaulted a nephew of Gerry "the Monk" Hutch, leaving him in a coma and putting Dunne under a sentence of death.
[3] In January 1996 he was arrested by police in Manchester following a joint operation with Gardaí and charged with conspiracy to smuggle heroin into Ireland.
[5] Dunne had reacted angrily to their arrival, ordered them to leave and a gun battle broke out.