The pub where Bernard "Verb" Sugg was shot dead

This is the pub where gunmen murdered Westies gang member Bernard "Verb" Sugg.

It is situated on Blackcourt Road in Corduff, Dublin.

At the time of the shooting, it was known as the Brookwood Inn. These days, the building is home to a bar called Leonard's.

"Verb" was an enforcer for the Westies, which was a violent drug gang that operated in the Blanchardstown suburb of Dublin, Ireland.

The gang's leadership consisted of Shane Coates and Bernard's older brother, Stephen Sugg.

Other members included Andrew and Mark Glennon—two brothers who primarily served as muscle.

During the late 1990s and early 2000s, the outfit controlled most of the heroin trade in west Dublin. They also carried out a number of armed robberies.

For roughly five years, they terrorized the area, dishing out punishment beatings for debts as low as €10.

The Westies split

The Westies split in 2003 after the Glennon brothers decided that they wanted a larger slice of the pie. Shortly afterwards, they joined forces with another criminal organization from north Dublin.

Later that year, Shane Coates and Stephen Sugg were forced to flee to Spain after they became involved in a shootout with the Irish police in Cavan.

Meanwhile, Bernard "Verb" Sugg stayed behind in Blanchardstown, acting as their "man on the ground."

When the Glennon brothers heard that their former partners had fled to Europe, they quickly realized that they had the perfect opportunity to take over.

All they needed to do was remove "Verb".

The murder of Bernard Sugg

On August 18th, 2003, Sugg was drinking at this pub in Corduff when two gunmen wearing balaclavas entered the building at around 10.30 p.m.

Upon realizing that he was the target, the 24-year-old attempted to dash towards the exit. However, one of his assailants shot him twice in the chest before he could escape.

He died in the hospital an hour later.

The Irish police believe that it was the Glennon brothers who arrived at the pub that night. Following Verb's death, they took control of the drug trade in west Dublin.

However, their reign at the top did not last long.

In 2005, the two men were murdered after they became embroiled in a dispute with their new crime partners.

Photos

Photos of the pub and other related images.

The Brookwood Inn

This Google Street View image of the Brookwood Inn in Corduff was taken in May 2009.

Judging by social media, it seems as though the Brookwood Inn closed its doors in 2015. The current pub, Leonard's, opened in the autumn of 2017.

On the night of the shooting, the pub was extremely busy. The hitmen fired six bullets and showed little concern for innocent bystanders. One man, who had no connection to the gang, was hit in the foot.

Sugg worked as a doorman at the Brookwood Inn. The week before his death, he reportedly refused entry to the Glennon brothers.

Shortly before the shooting, someone called the pub and asked if Verb was there. It is believed that this call was made by one of the hitmen.

The gunmen who murdered Sugg knew exactly where to go because the Westies always sat in the same seat. The seat in question was on a raised platform just inside the left side of the entrance.

The Westies

Shane Coates, Stephen Sugg, Bernard Sugg, Mark Glennon, and Anthony "Madser" Glennon were all leading members of the Westies. The five men were all killed within the span of two years.

The gang had a reputation for using extreme violence. They slashed people with carpet knives, and on one occasion, they even assaulted a man in a wheelchair.

Verb was described as a "violent psychopath" and a bully. When Shane Coates and Stephen Sugg fled to Spain, he took over the job of running the Westies in Ireland.

Coates and Sugg went missing in Spain in 2004. Two years later, the Spanish authorities found their bodies buried underneath a warehouse near Alicante. The police believe that the two men had attempted to muscle in on the drug trade in the area. Subsequently, a rival Irish gang lured the pair to a warehouse and then murdered them.

In 2005, the two Glennon brothers were gunned down in separate shootings.