7 days ago
Gardai expect major decision on charging Kinahan to come soon
Gardai are hopeful of bringing charges against the Kinahan cartel leaders - almost two years on from asking the DPP to do so.
In particular, officers believe they will soon be able to level a charge against mob boss Daniel Kinahan, who is still living in the United Arab Emirates - where Ireland now has a formal extradition process - as a final decision from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) is expected. Gardai are understood to want to charge Kinahan over the murder of Eddie Hutch, a brother of Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch - but they also want to hit him, his brother Christy Jr, and his father Christy Sr with charges relating to running a E1 billion international criminal organisation.
A massive file was sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in August 2023, recommending charges for all three leaders of the Kinahan cartel - and sources say the clock is now ticking on that decision. Officers are understood to be optimistic that they will finally soon be able to charge, and ultimately extradite the Kinahans back to this country to face justice.
However An Garda Siochana are not officially saying anything about the matter. When asked by this paper if they have received a decision from the DPP, gardai said: 'An Garda Síochána does not comment on correspondence with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.'
Garda Commissioner Drew Harris did however comment on the matter two years ago - saying a 'very comprehensive and wide-ranging investigation into numerous serious offences committed here in Ireland and that file has been submitted to the DPP.' And we would hope to see leadership figures within the Kinahan organised crime group brought to justice here in Ireland,' he said at the time.
The decision has still not been announced as Mr Harris sees out his final days at the head of the force - before Deputy Commissioner Justin Kelly takes the top job next month. Sources previously told this paper that officers also wanted to charge Daniel Kinahan over a foiled plot six years ago to murder Hutch ally James 'Mago' Gately. Gardai from the Drugs and organised Crime Bureau became aware that Estonian hitman Imre Arakas (64) was sent by the cartel to Dublin in April 2017 as part of a plot to murder Gately in Belfast.
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Armed detectives stormed the house in west Dublin where Arakas was holed up and arrested him before he could head north to carry out the murder bid. A DOCB detective seized an encrypted phone from Arakas that had a message on its display saying 'Kill Mago Gately.'
The phone's security system kicked in seconds after the detective grabbed the handset from Arakas and the message auto-deleted – but not before the officer took a photo of the screen with his own device. Sources say officers later established that the phone that sent the murder message was a handset controlled by Kinahan – and that is a key piece of the evidence against the mob boss. Christy Kinahan "Dapper Don"
Gardai are hopeful that the new extradition agreement with the UAE will help to ensure that the Kinahans are brought back here to face justice. It comes as cartel mobster Sean McGovern was successfully flown back here in May and is now facing a Special Criminal Court trial for the alleged murder of Noel 'Duck Egg' Kirwan. The bloody Kinahan Hutch feud saw 18 men shot dead and began when Daniel Kinahan ordered the murder of Gary Hutch in Spain in 2015 - and when the cartel attempted to murder Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch in Lanzarote that Christmas.
It significantly escalated when the Hutch gang struck back in February 2016 - shooting dead Kinahan associate David Byrne in Dublin's Regency Hotel - in a hit that was primarily targeting Daniel Kinahan. The feud ultimately claimed the lives of The Monk's brother Eddie, their nephews Gareth and Derek Coakley Hutch - and saw multiple attempts by the cartel to kill his nephews Jonathan Patrick and his brother Patsy. Gerry Hutch
Gerry Hutch himself was accused of the murder of David Byrne but walked free after three Judges of the Special Criminal Court found him not guilty - citing a lack of evidence that he committed the crime at all. The feud also saw innocent dad of two Mr Kirwan shot dead after he had been merely pictured with 'The Monk' at Eddie Hutch's funeral, as well as the veteran gangster's friend Noel 'Kingsize' Duggan.
Innocent Dublin city council worker Trevor O'Neill was another victim - killed in a horrific case of mistaken identity by a gunman targeting Jonathan Hutch on the island of Majorca in August 2016. Another innocent man - homeless Dubliner Martin O'Rourke, was also shot dead in the capital in April 2016 - after a gunman was targeting a Hutch associate in the area.
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