Authorities probe if Mountjoy inmate was violently attacked after phones hidden in PlayStation went missing

Dublin inner-city criminal Patrick Smith (27) was in a serious but stable condition yesterday after being savagely beaten in prison last weekend.

It’s understood he had his spleen removed and is also being treated for broken ribs in the high dependency unit of the Mater Hospital.

Officials are investigating if he was targeted after being accused of stealing a number of phones that were stashed in a games console.

Gardaí are also carrying out their own enquiries into the incident and, while no arrests have yet been made, sources said that three inmates are suspected of involvement in the incident.

This includes Kinahan hitman Christopher Slater, who is currently serving a life sentence for the feud murder of Michael Barr in Dublin in 2016.

Another is Gareth Brophy, who pleaded guilty to being the getaway driver in the fatal shooting in Dublin of David ‘Daithi’ Douglas in another killing linked to that dispute.

A third prisoner suspected of involvement in the assault is Drogheda criminal Paul Crosby who is awaiting sentencing for facilitating the murder of teenager Keane Mulready-Woods.

The attack was carried out last Sunday on the C2 landing of the Dublin prison, the same landing where inmate Robert O’Connor was assaulted last July before being pronounced dead several days later.

A source told Independent.ie: “It appears the victim borrowed a PlayStation in which several mobile devices were hidden.

“The games console was returned but the phones weren’t inside and he was accused of flogging off the phones. This is the suspected motive for the beating,” the source added.

Smith, who is originally from East Wall in Dublin, has over 100 previous convictions for crimes including assault, violent disorder and theft.

A garda spokesperson confirmed they were aware of an incident at the prison on Sunday, January 15, and are carrying out enquiries.

When contacted, the Irish Prison Service said it does not comment on individual prisoner cases.

Last year, Slater became the third member of a Kinahan hit team to be given a life sentence for the murder of Michael Barr.

The father-of-five was shot dead at the Sunset House pub in the north-inner city in a murder linked to the Hutch/Kinahan feud.

Two armed males had burst into the bar wearing what were described as ‘Freddy Krueger’, or Halloween-style masks.

His murder trial heard there was “chaos and screaming” in the aftermath of the gun murder, which took place during a raffle.

Slater (37), who is originally from Cabra, had denied murder but was convicted on DNA evidence.

South-inner city criminal Gareth Brophy (28) is currently serving a ten-year jail term for his role in the feud murder of Douglas in July 2016.

He pleaded guilty to facilitating the murder by being the getaway driver of a stolen Mercedes that brought the gunman to and from the scene.

The third man, Paul Crosby (27), is due to be sentenced by the Special Criminal Court on Monday for facilitating the murder of Mulready-Woods in 2020.

The Drogheda criminal is also currently serving a sentence over an arson incident and was heavily linked to the feuding in the Louth town.