Larry Dunne (February 1948 - 18 May 2020) was an Irish organised crime boss and drug dealer. [1] [2] He was held responsible for introducing heroin into Dublin in the 1970s. [1] [2]
He was born into a large inner-city Dublin family of 14, grew up in Dolphin's Barn and became involved in petty crime. [1] [3] He was sent to Daingean Reformatory like many of his brothers. [1] [3]
His father Christy "Bronco" Dunne Snr. had served eighteen months in Portlaoise Prison for manslaughter in 1939. [3] [4]
He began supplying heroin in Dublin in the late 1970s. [1] He had spent time in England and built up a network of connections with British drug dealers. [1] He organised young "runners" to supply heroin on streets and in flat complexes. [1] Because of this he earned the nickname "Larry doesn't carry". [1]
He made so much money that in May 1982 he was able to buy a luxury home in its own grounds in Sandyford at the foot of the Dublin Mountains. [1] Although unemployed he paid £100,000 for it – the equivalent of €1.3 million in 2020 prices. [1] [5]
In June 1983 he was brought before the courts on drugs trafficking charges. [3] After a morning testimony against him he absconded. [3] He was found guilty in his absence. [3] [1] While on the run he hid in Crumlin, a house of friends in County Leitrim, spent a few days in a Divine Light Mission commune, then went to the Costa del Sol followed by Portugal. [4]
He was arrested in Portugal, extradited to Ireland and served 10 years of a 14 year sentence. [3] [1]
He was convicted in 2004 of dealing for an offence that occurred in 1999. [1]
He had more than 40 criminal convictions. [1]
Dunne had been ill with lung cancer for a long time. [2] He died in St. James's Hospital on 18 May 2020 after slitting his own throat the day before. [6]