'Fat' Freddie Thompson has taken up step aerobics in a bid to shift the pounds inside Ireland’s toughest prison.
The convicted killer promised his mother Lisa he would get in shape shortly before she died in April – and has now earned the nickname Fat Fred Slim. One-time senior Kinahan cartel member Thompson has been hitting the gym every day at supermax Portlaoise Prison with a strict cardio regime including step aerobics.
The 43-year-old has also cut out trips to the jail tuck shop turning his back on his former diet of sweets, chocolate and biscuits. A source told the Irish Sunday Mirror how he hates his nickname “Fat Freddie” and wants people to start calling him Frederick or Fred instead.
The source said: “Thompson piled on the weight since being moved to Portlaoise Prison in 2018.
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“He spent a lot of money on crisps, sweets and high-fat food from the jail tuck shop. Before his mother passed away earlier this year he promised her he would start to look after himself and lose weight.
“They were very close and he always did what she asked of him.” The source added: “He hates the nickname too and wants to just be called Fred or Frederick now.
“He goes mad if any prisoner calls him Fat Freddie. He’s eating really well and he is working out a lot in the gym.
“It’s not just weights he is doing either, he’s hitting the cardio machines hard and he even does step aerobics. He doesn’t care what people think as the weight is dropping off him.
"A few prisoners have started slagging him calling him Fat Fred Slim. He had managed to lose weight a good few years ago but then piled it all back on.
“He has told other prisoners how he’s determined to keep it off this time around.” Thompson is serving a life sentence for the 2016 murder of 55-year-old David “Daithi” Douglas.
The father-of-one was shot six times as he had lunch in his partner’s shop on Bridgefoot Street, Dublin 8. He was granted compassionate leave to pay his respects to his mother at Massey Brothers’ funeral home in The Coombe, Dublin, in April.
Later the same day Fat Freddie’s brother Richard and his aunt Sadie Byrne – whose son David was murdered at the Regency Hotel in 2016 – visited the funeral home to pay their respects.
The source concluded: “Thompson is adamant to follow through on what he promised his mother.
“He took her death very hard and is making it his priority to do what he said he would and lose the weight and look after himself better.”
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