Crime World

A network of seemingly legitimate businessmen are under investigation by the Gardai in a massive crackdown on the laundering of dirty money. This week a businessman, Wesley Williams, was jailed for his part in a laundering scam involving euro 1.4 million in cash. The married father of four was also recently named in CAB proceedings against Marcus Sweeney’s Evergreen Wealth Management Property Hold...

A gangster named in court as being involved in the murder of gang boss Martin ‘Marlo’ Hyland and innocent plumber Anthony Campbell is set for release from prison more than a decade after being jailed. So who is John Mangan? And how was he linked to the 2006 murder of 20-year-old Campbell, a totally innocent young man caught up in a deadly underworld takeover? Nicola speaks with Niall Donald about...

A stunning mansion in the County Louth countryside called The White House has been identified by the Criminal Assets Bureau in a Proceeds of Crime case against a Moldovan couple. Natalie and Edward Chiper were arrested in 2019 after almost €1 million worth of drugs were found on the premises. But despite spending time in custody the charges against them were dropped. Now the glamorous couple will...

Secret files relating to the operations of a County Kerry wing of the notorious Sinaloa Cartel show how they shipped 6 tonnes of cocaine into Europe over the course of one year. Headed by former Kilorglan schoolboy Morris O’Shea Salazar, whose Mexican mother has family ties to Joachim El Chapo Guzman’s sons, the Sinaloa cell was uncovered by both the DEA and later during the Encrochat hack. Nicola...

Northern Ireland’s much anticipated Kenova Report is set to be released next month after confirmation that no prosecutions are to be pursued. The report centres around the activities of the notorious Freddie Scapattici, the British Army’s top agent in the north during the troubles. Nicola talks with Belfast Telegraph Crime Correspondent Allison Morris about the incredible story of Stakeknife and t...

Two notorious Limerick brothers were found not guilty of assaulting a sulky driver and causing him harm after he dramatically changed his statement and said he’d ’identified the wrong men.’ Vincent and Jonathan Collopy members of the notorious Keane Collopy faction walked free after they were found not guilty. So what was behind the extraordinary circumstances of the case and what organised crime...

Eight years since the murder of David Byrne at the Regency Hotel his family laid floral tributes at the spot where he died. But what has happened to the key players who were there that day and what future lies in store for many who then felt untouchable? Nicola speaks to Niall Donald about an anniversary, an ongoing police operation and a victim whose death was a seismic moment in the history of o...

A convicted dog fighting boss on the run from UK authorities is now facing a prison stretch in Ireland after being caught with €1.9 million worth of cocaine. John Knibbs was banned from breeding dogs and disqualified from owning an animal in the UK. But the father of four changed his name by deed pole and moved to Ireland where he set up new premises in County Kildare. In recent weeks journalist E...

Noel Long was charged with killing Nora Sheehan in 1981, but he walked free. He was charged again in 2022. As his trial for murder gets underway, Nicola and the Crime World team meet Julieanna Moore Watkins, Long's sister, who tells us about her brother's long history of violence. All episodes of Beast: The Murder of Nora Sheehan are available to listen to now wherever you get your podcasts. Prese...

A detailed structure of the Kinahan Organisation has been read into a court for the first time during the trial of a man accused of buying a mobile phone top-up for mob lieutenant Sean McGovern. Evidence given by Superintendent David Gallagher on the command and structure of the Cartel gives an interesting insight into their paramilitary style set up with sub-cells and command structures in Irelan...

Five murders carried out in a tiny area of Belfast and just a few streets apart bare chillingly similar hallmarks when it comes to the up close and personal style of the assassinations, the escape routes taken on foot through the Lenadoon estate and the activities of the victims. Today we visit the crime scenes with Belfast Telegraph Crime Correspondent Allison Morris who believes the wave of gang...

A criminal serving two sentences for involvement in an attempted gangland murder and a shooting of an innocent man has now pleaded guilty to his role in the murder of notiorious mobster Mark’ Guinea Pig’ Desmond eight years ago. Charles McClean from Clondalkin is serving 16 and a half years for facilitating the botched murder of criminal Wayne Whelan who was later shot dead and the doorstep killin...

Court sketch artist Mike O’Donnell attended the trial of Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch at the Special Criminal court and was there the day he walked free. But inspired by his craggy face and interesting expressions the Kerry artist decided to go another step and his exhibition entitled ‘Released’ is set to open this week in Tralee. The artist sat with Hutch in the weeks after he was released and was allo...

High flying big spending John Coone and his wife Pamela lorded it up in their small community splashing their cash on holidays, fast cars and flash jewellery. But the couple who were also claiming social welfare have fallen foul of the Criminal Assets Bureau and he has been named as the leader of a West Cork drugs gang. The pair from Bandon in County Cork tried to hide their dirty money through a...

Sixty eight year old William Finlay was sentenced this week for a minimum of 20 years for murdering his former partner at her County Antrim home in the first case using new domestic abuse legislation. But is the sentence long enough for the life of retired nurse and grandmother Alyson Nelson who at 64 underwent a ‘vicious, unrelenting’ attack motivated by jealousy. Nicola speaks with Belfast...

Corrupt cop John ‘Spud’ Murphy intervened in a property dispute between a financier and a suspected criminal and allegedly asked for £5,000 for himself and £5,000 for a serving officer, police investigating him for corruption have been told. The disgraced former Superintendent who is currently serving a jail term after he was caught with over a quarter of a million euro worth of cannabis will be a...

The death of Ian Bailey brings to an end his role as a celebrity suspect in the tragic murder of Sophie Toscan Du Plantier. Convicted in a French court of her brutal killing yet still an innocent man under Irish law the life and death of Bailey has been as complex as the murder inquiry that put the West Cork village of Schull on the international map. Today Niall Donald asks Nicola about her own i...

Fears are growing of a bloody revenge attack after the funeral of Christmas Eve gun victim Jason Hennessy. The father of six was buried last weekend in an ‘Incredible Hulk’ themed funeral which was attended by hundreds of friends and family as well as the criminal fraternity. Three busloads of public order Gardaí were brought in along with Armed Support units to patrol the area during the service...

A fascinating study of the Bugsy Malones, the gang of children led by a young Gerry The Monk Hutch in Dublin in the 1970s has found that the State let down the north inner city youngsters over and over again. Criminology lecturer Dr Ciara Molloy conducted research into the phenomenon of the youth subculture labelled by the media and treated like hardened criminals. Nicola speaks with Ciara who is...

***ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN APRIL 2021*** It reads like a script from an Agatha Christie murder mystery – a beautiful young French woman bludgeoned to death at her idyllic holiday home, a shocked community who fear there is a killer amongst them and a struggling police force who find more questions than answers. Twenty-five years since the body of Sophie Toscan du Plantier was discovered discarded...

Veteran criminal Martin ‘The Viper’ Foley has spent countless hours in courtrooms over the course of his 73 year career. He has appeared both as an accused, during the numerous criminal cases against him, but also as a victim in a rake of civil actions he has taken against others. Recently he agreed that his privacy claims against the State, the Attorney General, the Garda Siochana, the Justice Mi...

When journalist Hugh Jordan saw a familiar face pop up speaking at an anti immigration protest in a south Belfast housing estate he had to investigate further. And to his surprise the woman interviewed on the BBC saying she wanted no outsiders moving into her area had a very sinister past. Nicola speaks to Hugh about an extraordinary tale that brought him from a short news report into one of the d...

The clock is ticking on murder accused Sean McGovern’s freedom in the United Arab Emirates as the Irish Government and Gardai move in for the next step in the takedown of the Kinahan Cartel. McGovern was named during sanctions in April 2022 but has remained at large in Dubai despite a warrant for his arrest. Nicola speaks with Niall Donald about McGovern and his significance as the chief advisor t...

Criminal Jonathan Harding AKA Rocketman has been released from prison after serving his time for his role in Bomber Kavanagh’s weapons HQ busted in 2017. Harding a trusted member of the Cartel’s Dublin outfit cut a lonely figure as he walked his dog near his Crumlin home in recent weeks with most of his associates locked up and many facing lengthy sentences both here and abroad. So what is next fo...

High end designer watches costing tens of thousands of euro are often used as a currency in the underworld where fakes and real timepieces change hands every day. But legitimate buyers too collect the desirable pieces and increasingly their value has left their owners vulnerable to being targeted by ruthless criminals with ever more discerning eyes. So how is the watch market protecting itself fro...