ANOTHER week, another gangland murder in broad daylight

This time it was the turn of Christopher 'Git' Zambra. He met his maker in a hail of bullets at Cooley Road in Drimnagh last Sunday afternoon.

His assassins were lying in ambush as he arrived to visit his sister in the area. Zambra (inset) was shot first in his car and then in a nearby garden as he ran for his life.

Once again the headlines wrote themselves. Brutal and clinical, and carried out in broad daylight, the shooting is similar to a number of others in the capital this year.

ROBBERIES

I know Cooley Road well – it was my stomping ground for years when I was stationed at the nearby Sundrive Road garda station.

I was also aware of Christopher Zambra back then.

He was a teenager, an up-and-coming young hood who later graduated from petty crime to carrying out armed robberies.

Even then Git was a violent man. In 1998, shortly before I left Sundrive Road, he was jailed for four years for his part in an armed robbery.

After that he went on to become a major player in organised crime in Dublin. Gardai believe he was involved in a number of gangland murders over the past decade.

He was tried and acquitted of one - the murder of John 'Champagne' Carroll who was shot dead in a pub in The Coombe in 2009.

Last Sunday's murder was carried out in broad daylight, with children playing nearby and families going about their business. As such, it had a number of similarities to three other (unrelated) killings this year.

Only two months ago, Stephen 'Dougie' Moran was gunned down outside his home on a quiet estate in Lucan.

Days later, 'Fat' Deccie Smith was shot dead in front of a creche in Donaghmede as parents dropped their children off at 9am.

A few weeks after that, window cleaner John O'Regan was shot dead while cycling to work in Ballymun at 9am on a weekday morning.

The Zambra killing was further evidence, if it were needed, that Dublin's gunmen can now effectively kill at will.

They have no fear of witnesses and they think nothing of endangering the lives of innocent members of the public.

Acting Garda Commissioner Noirin O'Sullivan has pledged to tackle organised crime. She's a capable leading officer, but she'll need all the luck she can get.

The detection rate in Dublin for gangland murders is abysmally low.

This is mainly because of threats to, and harassment of, witnesses. This ensures that, even if a case gets to trial, it often collapses.

So, what's the solution?

Well, it's something that I and many other retired policemen, politicians and community leaders have been calling for, for years.

I've repeatedly said that trials such as that which Zambra faced for the murder of 'Champagne' Carroll should be held in the Special Criminal Court - and not the Central Criminal.

The juryless 'Special' (as it's known) was established to try individuals and groups whose activities are seen as a threat to state security.

WELCOME

The four killings I've mentioned, all of which were carried out by city gangs, fall into that category.

I welcome the fact that two Limerick men, Wayne Dundon and Nathan Killeen, are currently before this court charged with organising a gangland-style murder.

Each of the recent Dublin cases should be handled in a similar manner.

The State has the tools to take on the killers of 'Git' Zambra – but is it prepared to use them?