‘Frog Eye’ gangster David Stanners who tortured and murdered rival dead in cell

A notorious gangster has been found dead in jail while serving a life sentence.

David Stanners, 51, was locked up at Mountjoy Prison in Dublin, Ireland, when prison wardens found him lying unresponsive in his cell. The killer, known also as "Frog Eye", had been in the jail for more than 20 years after he was found guilty of kidnapping, torturing and murdering his gangland rival, Kieran Keane, reports DublinLive.

Stanners was part of a five-man group who committed the atrocities in January 2003 as part of an ongoing feud in Limerick. Stanners was seen by Keane's nephew Owen Treacy shooting his uncle, 36, in the head.

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The killer also stabbed Treacy several times that night and left him for dead, although he survived the attack. Following Keane's death his body was found with his hands tied behind his back. His widow told the Central Criminal Court her husband's killers were "animals".

Stanners was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment in November 2003 along with four other members of the McCarthy/Dundon crime gang, of which he was thought of as a ringleader. Dessie Dundon, Christy Costello, Anthony "Noddy" McCarthy and James McCarthy were also jailed in connection with the death.

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A full investigation into Stanners' death is now underway, the Irish Prison Service confirmed. A post-mortem will be carried out to establish the exact cause of death, but it is currently thought he died of natural causes.

Despite initially being handed a life sentence, Stanners was set to walk free within the next few years. The Irish Prison Service said in a statement: "The IPS can confirm that there was a death of a person in custody in Mountjoy on October 25 and the next of kin have been notified.

"This death in custody will be investigated by the Irish Prison Service, the Inspector of Prisons and An Garda Siochana where circumstances warrant. The cause of death is determined by the Coroner's Office."

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