Latest news with #Cab
Sunday World
4 days ago
- Sunday World
Mr Flashy's brother avoids more jail time for drug offences
Eric O'Driscoll (23) was caught with cannabis and MDMA Eric O'Driscoll was already serving a lengthy sentence A brother of well-known gangster 'Mr Flashy' has avoided more jail time for drug offences. Eric O'Driscoll (23) was given a six-month sentence, effective immediately, when he appeared before Blanchardstown District Court. O'Driscoll is the brother of Glen Ward (32), who was named by gardaí in a Cab case earlier this year as the crime boss known as Mr Flashy. Glen Ward and Eric O'Driscoll O'Driscoll is currently serving a five-year sentence imposed by the Special Criminal Court in April for firing a semi-automatic rifle from a house, while Ward is serving a five-and-a-half year sentence for possession of the same weapon. Earlier this week, before Blanchardstown court, O'Driscoll admitted possession of cannabis. Garda Dwayne O'Brien said gardaí obtained a warrant and searched a house at Deanstown Green in Finglas on April 28, 2023. The value of the cannabis was €20, Gda O'Brien told the court. O'Driscoll also admitted possession of MDMA and having the drug for sale or supply, at Ratoath Avenue in Finglas on November 26, 2020. The value of the MDMA was €264. The court heard that O'Driscoll had 11 previous convictions. Defence lawyer Ciaran MacLoughlin said O'Driscoll was serving a lengthy sentence and was not due for release until February 2028. Judge David McHugh convicted and sentenced O'Driscoll to six months in prison.
Sunday World
5 days ago
- Sunday World
CAB sells 20 criminal ‘trophy homes' for €4.9m
Buildings sold for total of €4.9m were located in 12 Irish counties and in Lanzarote Detective Chief Superintendent Michael Gubbins believes that 'denying and depriving' is a clear way of sending a message to criminals who splurge millions on properties. He also said putting the properties into the hands of law-abiding citizens is beneficial to communities that may have been overshadowed by a criminal 'controlling the area'. Cab completed the sale of 20 properties for a total of €4.9m last year. They were seized from criminals in 12 Irish counties, and in Lanzarote. This is an increase on 2023, when the bureau sold 12 houses. The trend is continuing, as Cab has already made property sales totalling more than €3m this year. Detective Chief Superintendent Michael Gubbins of the Criminal Assets Bureau. Photo: Steve Humphreys Det Chief Supt Gubbins explained how identifying and calculating the cost of ostentatious renovations and extensions is a crucial part of the work when targeting properties financed through the proceeds of crime. 'The seizure and sale of properties is a very important part of our work at the bureau – it is the ultimate example of denying and depriving the criminal, which is the aim of our work,' he said. 'We rarely get back as much money as what the criminal has put into the property, but this all sends a good message to the local community and shows that we are working in their community. 'We have been thanked by local people when these houses are seized and then sold. 'Often, these properties are in areas where the criminal controls the area – by us taking the properties and taking them out of their communities, we are seriously discommoding and disrupting their activities. "In the world of organised crime, these individuals cannot just easily set up in another part of the city or country – targeting their homes has a big impact on their criminal enterprises.' He continued: 'We see that these houses – sometimes referred to as trophy houses – stand out in the local community because of the huge amount of work such as extensions and so on that have happened in the majority of cases. A lot of money has gone into many of the houses and they stand out in the community. He said that 'trophy houses' as well as 'holidays, cosmetic procedures, designer goods and clothes' are 'all about a display of wealth, status and position in the criminal fraternity'. 'What we are constantly seeing is the people underneath our targets are aspiring to be like them, to have that lifestyle,' he said. 'But often they only have money for a certain period of time and notwithstanding our seizures against them in the main, they are not big savers – very few of them have saving accounts for example, they are spenders.' The bureau chief said properties are identified by Cab by a number of different methods, including 'our profile network, our own intelligence sources and good citizen's reports'. Cab seized three properties from David Waldron News in 90 Seconds - Monday, August 4th Det Chief Supt Gubbins also spoke about the important role that a panel of independent, professional quantity surveyors provide in the bureau's operations. These are experts at costing buildings from conception through completion. In Cab's case, they survey the targeted property then provide a report that outlines the work that has been done on the property. 'For example, they identify the extensions that have been built on a property and then they break the cost down bit by bit into categories such as fixtures and labour costs,' he said. 'They then submit a report to us that becomes an affidavit that is used in a High Court case. It is very useful to us because primarily in our cases, the criminal asset that is being targeted is a dwelling.' According to exclusive figures, Dublin had the most property sales by Cab last year, at seven, and Co Kildare was next with two. Ten other counties and the island of Lanzarote each had a single house sale. It is understood the sale in Lanzarote was the first time Cab has sold a property abroad. Sandra Hehir had an apartment in Lanzarote The Lanzarote property was owned by Sandra Hehir, the sister of Limerick gangland boss Christy Keane, and was used as a holiday home by her. Hehir (57) was given a two-and-a-half year sentence last year at the Special Criminal Court for money laundering for her brother's gang, after she was caught with €124,000 in crime cash in the attic of her Limerick home in June 2020. 'The Lanzarote property was sold by a local estate agent for €155,000 and with the co-operation of local law enforcement. She agreed that the property be sold in a High Court settlement,'Det Chief Supt Gubbins said. Three of the properties sold last year were owned by Dublin drugs trafficker David Waldron. The homes were located in Wexford, Cabra and Leixlip. Investigations established Waldron spent €1.69m on the luxury three-storey Co Wexford mansion located near Gorey after he bought a site at the location for €40,000 in 2014.
New Statesman
23-07-2025
- New Statesman
One hundred and one Dalmatian wines
If the wine world has buried treasure, it's genetic. There are 10,000 identified vine varieties, yet half of the world's vineyards are planted with just 33 of these, and the top 13 'international' varieties account for one-third of plantings. The greatest change in the past half-century has been the flowering of wines from the southern hemisphere. Exciting? In terms of craft and origin, perhaps – but not genetically. They're dominated by those wine-primer varieties: Chard, Cab, Shiraz, Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc. Where is the buried treasure? In difficult places, notably in central and eastern Europe and the Caucasus. Between the late-19th-century phylloxera era and the border realignments and colour revolutions that began in 1989, those difficulties were not merely physical, but political, economic and social, too. The wine cycle is slow, its chronological units merely annual. Forty years of restitution have yet to pass – but the excitement is growing. Wine-world change over the next half-century may draw deeply on these formerly despised zones. Dalmatia is a test case. This is the Mediterranean's most intricate archipelago, where the western edge of the Dinaric Alps crumbles into the sea within the present-day borders of Croatia. It's a garden-like assembly of islands and islets, inlaid with the turquoise gifted to quiet, sunlit waters by sea-bottom limestone. My dentist rhapsodised about it to me, drill in hand, 20 years ago; I finally toured it with Croatia's leading wine writer, Saša Špiranec, this June. Islands, like mountains, are barriers to homogenisation. Such barriers help preserve diversity; Switzerland, too, still works with many varieties lost elsewhere. You can happily ferry yourself from promontory to island to peninsula, up and down this coastline, and find indigenous varieties from each: haunting, sinewy white Grk and the characterful, aromatic white Pošip on the former Venetian island of Korčula; light, zesty white Bogdanuša and Prč on big Hvar; the apricot-scented Vugava on distant Vis; powerful red Dobričić on little Šolta; juicy red Babić and silky red Lasina in Primošten and Skradin on the mainland. Other varieties are pan-Dalmatian, including Plavac Mali, the muscular grape from which many of the most ambitious reds are crafted, and lushly fruity Tribidrag – the local name for Zinfandel (whose original home is here in Croatia). Delicate, faintly bitter white Maraština is found up and down the coast, too. The finest reds of all are found on the Pelješac peninsula, especially from the protected destination of origin zones of Dingač and Postup. Of course, there are challenges. Serbo-Croat nomenclature terrifies anglophones, particularly when vowels go missing and diacritics flutter like confetti. Eschew caution and blurt: once learned, the sounds themselves are not difficult. Dalmatia is lucky to have so many fragrant, quenching whites in its pocket, as they sing with the coastline's cornucopia of fish and seafood. Plavac Mali and Tribidrag reds, by contrast, are archetypical winter wines. The almost daunting power and force of a great Dingač red, made from Plavac Mali, rivals similarly contoured reds from Châteauneuf du Pape, Priorat or the Douro. If you get a glimpse of its steep, sea-fronted vine terraces – a furnace on a summer afternoon – this style seems inevitable and tastes precious, though it's fighting the new skinny-wine zeitgeist. A final hazard is that much of Croatia's wine is family-made and for personal use, and if you bump into wines like these (a possibility in small restaurants), their imperfections may be evident. It's worth seeking out bottled wines from the best producers – such as Antičević, Bedalov, Bire, Carić, Kiridžija, Korta Katarina, Krajančić, Marlais, Miloš, Rizman, Saints Hills, Stina, Tomić and Zure, to name just a few. Stories of this sort are underway at multiple points east of Venice and Palermo; indeed, coastal Istria and inland Croatia has as much again to offer (as, to be fair, does Italy). The dictatorship of the familiar stops here. Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month Subscribe [See also: Kemi Badenoch isn't working] Related
Sunday World
21-07-2025
- Sunday World
Man who caused death of niece weeks after she gave birth is gangster's brother
Criminal Assets Bureau claimed that sibling was involved in massive money-laundering operation A MAN who admitted causing the death of his niece after ramming steel gates with a van is the younger brother of a Limerick gangland figure. Danny O'Donoghue (42) pleaded guilty this week to dangerous driving causing the death of 21-year-old Marguerita O'Rourke in Rathkeale just days before Christmas. He also admitted possession of a machete, making threats to kill and causing criminal damage to a van. O'Donoghue who has been in custody since his arrest last December is due to be sentenced in October. His brother John O'Donoghue is a convicted drug dealer who has also been targeted by the Criminal Assets Bureau. John recently spent time in Portlaoise Prison before a conviction for a feud-related attack in Rathkeale was quashed on appeal and he was set free last year. His brother Danny appeared by video-link from the same prison this week at Limerick Circuit Court. John O'Donoghue Marguerita O'Rourke, who had her first child just three weeks earlier, had been closing steel gates to a property when Danny O'Donoghue hit the gates, killing her. The property is not far from the house where John O'Donoghue lives and which has been the target of an attempted pipe bomb attack in the past. It was also the scene of raid by the Criminal Assets Bureau. During his two years behind bars, it also emerged in a Cab case that John O'Donoghue was regarded as significant player in massive money laundering scheme. The senior investigating officer also described O'Donoghue as being 'closely associated' with Eds McCarthy, a leading figure in the McCarthy-Dundon gang. In the Cab case against a car firm, Bawn Motors, it was highlighted how O'Donoghue had 'established himself as a key figure in the international drugs trade' and has 'extensive criminal contacts with the wider Traveller community'. It was also stated he had met with Chirsty Keane, the leading member of Limerick's Keane gang at a Rathkeale pub along with one of Keane's most trusted lieutenants Dermot 'Pum' McManus. Flowers at Marguerita's funeral Since Marguerite's death family members have continued to post heartfelt tributes to the young woman expressing their huge sense of loss. Even this as news of the court case went online this week one woman commented: 'My beautiful sister you didn't deserve this l love you so much forever in my heart.' Her death last Christmas came after a number of incidents of violence in the Co Limerick town during the traditional influx of people ahead of Christmas. A house was damaged and in a shocking incident in which a BMW X5 was used to smash into property and was then set alight in November. In October a truck was used to damage a property in another incident and petrol bombs thrown at a house. Three years ago, Rathkeale saw a terrifying incident during the Christmas period in which a series of vehicles were rammed and written off. The Sunday World revealed at the time that the incident came as part of a three-way fight for dominance between criminal gangs. In a video of the aftermath a machete was visible lying on the road. Just a few weeks before Ms O'Rourke's tragic death, a man was attacked by hurley-wielding assailants and his car smashed up in the town. Marguerita O'Rourke (née Sheridan) Today's News in 90 Seconds - July 21st At one point there were plans to close a number of roads in the town as part of a garda operation did not go ahead after objections from local residents. Ms O'Rourke's funeral became a memorable as well as a huge vigil in the Co Limerick town, where balloons were released into the sky. Among the many heartfelt tributes online was one from her brother Freddy, who said at the time it had taken him days to able to put his feelings into words. He said that Christmas would never be the same, 'not just Christmas; my life will never be the same' and that she had left behind 'a very special boy.' He added that he couldn't believe he was saying 'rest in peace, our Marguerita.' Her father John paid tribute to the people who had shown such public support for the family for the daughter he described as 'a true legend.' Hundreds of family and friends turned out on Christmas at a candlelit vigil in the town on Christmas Eve. In a social media post he thanked 'the gardaí, nurses, doctors, priests, the settled people in Rathkeale, the Travelling people and everyone for their messages. 'The local shops, hotels for everything and everyone who called to my house and everyone over the world, thank you.'
Sunday World
20-07-2025
- Business
- Sunday World
Father of alleged gang boss earns thousands housing Ukrainian refugees
Coining it in: Firm that helps asylum seekers made profit of €246k and owns property valued at €420K THE father of alleged gangland figure Jonathan Gill set up a firm that has been paid hundreds of thousands of euro to house Ukranian refugees. John Gill sr later transferred his shares in Astervale Ltd to another director, but he still remains a director as well. Gill senior's Dublin address is listed on company records and is the same one that has been used by his son in various court appearances. It is also the same address given in evidence by the Criminal Assets Bureau which named Jonathan Gill as a member of an organised crime gang along with veteran gangster Paschal Kelly. According to figures published by the government Astervale was paid €414,505 from 2022 until April 2024. Documents filed with the Company Records Office show it made a profit of €246,000 in 2023 and the company owns a property worth €420,000. On the government's e-tender website the company's address in relation to a €134,505 contract was given as 'Astervale self-catering apartments' in Wicklow. Jonathan Gill claims to be a legitimate businessman Gill sr and Ian Bonny were first registered as directors in August 2022 with Gill initially owning 95 per cent of the shares. He then transferred his shares to Mr Bonny in October 2022 who has since been the 100 per cent shareholder in the company. When contacted by the Sunday World this week Mr Bonny said: 'I don't really have much interest in talking to you, sorry.' In May last year the company applied for planning permission to change the use of private house at Kildalkey, Co Meath to a guesthouse. There were several submissions from local people who objected to the proposed development in the rural area. The application as later withdrawn according to the online planning file. How the Sunday World broke IPAS boss's link to gang Last week the Sunday World revealed how another firm which has been awarded emergency accommodation contracts has links to the Drogheda gang feud. Ben O'Brien resigned in May as a director of Secure Accommodation, which has been paid €10.2 million since it was set up in September 2022. O'Brien (31) was among several people named in evidence in the 2022 Criminal Assets Bureau (Cab) case against gang bosses Owen and Brendan Maguire. In April 2019, O'Brien was outside his father Derek Kavanagh's home in Hardman Gardens, Drogheda with three others when a gunman opened fire. The shooting is detailed in an affidavit lodged by Cab as part of their case against the Maguire brothers. Jonathan Gill also featured in Cab evidence in a case brought against Paschal Kelly in which it was alleged they controlled a crime gang involved in major cocaine deals, bank robberies and burglaries. Kelly is one of the county's most infamous criminals and is currently serving an 18-year sentence for a €92,000 post office robbery and 'tiger' kidnapping. Unlike Kelly, Gill has no serious criminal convictions and openly runs a mediation service where he offers to sort out disputes for a fee outside of the courts system. Jonathan Gill Gill previously told the Sunday World his company was 'very efficient' at solving disputes and has been hired by couples who are separating but want to avoid going to court. When asked what he would say to people who claim he is involved in organised crime, he answered: 'I'd say, prove it.' However, as part of the original evidence highlighting Kelly's gangland background during the '90s and 2000s, Cab described Gill as 'a close criminal associate' of the caged criminal. A massive €1.3 million haul of cocaine seized at an apartment in Donabate 20 years ago was linked to their organised crime gang, according to the Bureau. 'It is believed the drugs captured belonged to the criminal gang over which Pascal Kelly and Jonathan Gill exert substantial control.' CAB court evidence suggested that Jonathan Gill and Paschal Kelly (pictured) controlled a crime gang It was also claimed the apartment in question was being used to cut up, mix and compress cocaine and officers from Coolock found 19 kilos of the drug. Both men were later prosecuted for separate tiger kidnap robberies for which Kelly was jailed and Gill had charges against him dropped over a 2011 robbery. During one bail hearing before his trial, it was alleged by gardaí that Gill was one of 'top criminals in the country.' had been accused of kidnapping a postal worker, his partner and their 10-week-old daughter before robbing €660,000 from the man's work. He denied the charges. He was also a target for the Criminal Assets Bureau himself and a judgement for €559,000 was registered against him in 2016. In 2023 Gill had teamed up with veteran gangster Martin Foley in an apparent debt collection enterprise.
