There is little doubt, they claim, that he would have established himself as one of the capital's biggest drug barons had he not been executed in the early hours of Monday morning.

How did a child born in Finglas on 11 July 1980 grow up to become such a notorious thug?

Speaking to the Sunday Tribune a few days after Daly's death, a local community worker said, "It is wrong for people to think that he is a product of the area he grew up in. Finglas is a great area. There are a lot of activities for children to get involved in.

"You only have to look at Erin's Isle GAA club where there are hundreds of kids involved or the recent television programme about the ponies with Diarmuid Gavin to see that there are activities for kids in Finglas."

The man, who knew Daly throughout his childhood, said, "John was just a normal child growing up and he was involved in horses like so many other children. His main problem was that he fell in with characters who were involved in crime. A lot has been written about him being a thug but one thing everyone should remember is that he has a mother and I can tell you that she worried about him every night he was out on the streets."

Starting out by dabbling in petty crime and causing havoc around Finglas, Daly's first court appearance came in February 1998 when the then 17-year-old was charged with being a passenger in a stolen car.

The presiding judge ordered him to complete 12 hours' community service or six days in prison.

Daly then graduated to theft, threatening behaviour, assault and a litany of road traffic offences.

He was out of control and cocky and in his world he was invincible. He was a member of what was known as the "Filthy Fifty". . . a group of young hoodlums who were involved in wreaking havoc all over Finglas and its surrounds. As he did not possess the intellect of seasoned operators, he found himself working for more senior criminals in the area.

In July 2000, Daly was found in possession of �3,850 while on bail for armed robbery . . . along with a friend he had robbed a service station on the Finglas Road with a sawn-off shotgun. He later pleaded guilty to four counts of robbery and possession of a firearm.

During the robbery, a shot was fired at the security hatch on the shop but the bullet failed to penetrate the glass. Daly later claimed in court that the gun went off accidentally. At 20 years old, he was sentenced to nine years in prison.

Three years later he was released on licence and, having forged links with members of Limerick's crime gangs, he returned to his criminal life.

In September 2003, he was accused of shooting and wounding Liam McAllister . . . a nephew of Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams. McAllister named Daly as his attacker but later withdrew his statement and returned to his native Belfast.

Daly was put back in Portlaoise Prison in early 2004 and remained there until his infamous phone call to Joe Duffy last July after which he was moved to prison in Cork to complete his sentence.

The Finglas community worker added, "He was stupid to make that phone call. Everyone knew prisoners had mobile phones but he just drew attention to himself with the call to Liveline.

Daly didn't have the head to be a crime leader. He was used as a front man by others." After his release, Daly was regarded as a 'dead man walking'. He lived for just 76 days before he was shot dead on Monday.

That night, his sister Caroline called the FM104 Adrian Kennedy phone show to blame newspapers for her brother's slaying. She claimed the media attention paid to Daly since his release was unwarranted and had fuelled a turf war. "He wanted to come home, go on a holiday and be with his family, " she said. "He didn't stir this up. The media did."

One garda detective, who has investigated Daly for years, said: "What Daly had going for him was a reputation. He was regarded as being very close to Marlo Hyland because his sister was in a relationship with Hyland. Marlo was a real criminal godfather and regarded as untouchable so Daly benefited from that link.

"The Marlo connection also helped him when he was in Portlaoise and he rose to be one of the top men in there because he was Hyland's man.

He forged links with the Keane crime gang from Limerick while behind bars.

"In reality he was a mouth and was one of these people who prospered by shouting the loudest.

It was Hyland who made him what he was and it was Hyland who also brought him down because he allowed Daly to get so arrogant to think that he could simply come out of prison and start dealing over the heads of others. Maybe he could have if Marlo was still around but once he died so too did Daly's protection."