Crime World

Gangsters moll Natasha McEnroe swapped her killer partner for a new man when he was locked up for murder. But later she and partner Paul Geraghty faced the wrath of mob boss heavy Brian Rattigan when he put a price on his love rivals head. But the peace lines were drawn and McEnroe managed to calm what once seemed like an impossible situation. This week, however, she faces life alone once after Ge...

A Europol press conference has heard about the phenomenal on-going success of the EncroChat investigation with the release of updated figures showing that more than 6,500 suspects have now been arrested with cash and assets topping €1B seized. The success and robust nature of the investigation into the hack has been backed by the highest courts in France, the Netherlands and the UK while prisoners...

A murderous couple who looked like ordinary newlyweds but who hid a dark secret. A series of shocking rapes and murders of teenage girls and finally a bust up between them which led to their capture. So who were the Ken and Barbie killers and why are they still making headlines almost 30 years after their crimes. Nicola speaks with Toronto Sun Crime Correspondent Brad Hunters about Paul Bernardo a...

A murder trial in Amsterdam, business dealings in the diamond district of Antwerp and a secretive money launderer from a posh south county Dublin neighbourhood. This week on Crime World Nicola chats with colleagues Niall Donald and Eamon Dillon about the business of crime and how very European it really is. From the Marengo trial underway in the Bunker in Amsterdam where dangerous Ridouan Taghi ap...

14-year-old Noah Donohoe snuck out of his Belfast home in the early hours of the morning he disappeared and took a secret 35 minute trip before returning without his shoes or headphones a team headed by investigative journalist Donal MacIntyre has found. The stunning new revelations which surround the morning of June 21st, 2020 around his Fitzroy Road home have shocked his family and supporters wh...

State witness Jonathan Dowdall has been back in court appealing the length of a 4 year sentence he was handed down after he pled guilty to facilitating the Hutch gang by making a room at the Regency Hotel available to them. The former Sinn Fein councillor whose evidence against Gerry The Monk Hutch was not accepted by the Special Criminal Court complained to the appeals court that he was duped and...

The true crime genre is one of the world’s most popular in books, podcasts, tv shows and films but what is it that makes us so drawn to violence and and all things criminal? Nicola is talking to author and columnist Sarah Weinman whose latest book Evidence of Things Seen, an anthology of true crime essays and works, is published this summer. The award winning writer who has uncovered the real life...

Golf fans and some of the sports top stars were left reeling recently when the PGA did a deal with Saudi Arabia and its bulging public investment fund. But the reshaping of professional golf is just the latest in a string of sports that have been lured to the Gulf and its endless cash reserves. So what is happening at the top of professional sport and why are countries with major human rights conc...

The trial of Dutch murder suspect Ridouan Taghi gets underway in the Netherlands again this week as it moves into the final phase and as he asks the court to block all further reporting. Taghi is expected to request the remainder of the case be heard in camera after his lawyer Inez Weski was arrested but released from custody. Nicola joins Niall Donald to talk about the marathon case against the b...

Social media influencer Andrew Tate along with his brother Tristan and two other suspects are being investigated for human trafficking as Romanian authorities say they have filed charges against them while the case remains under investigation. But who are the Tate brothers? And what has Andrew got to say in a series of new podcasts he has released ridiculing the Romanian investigation, criticising...

Criminals are always looking for weakness in people, organisations and particularly in systems where they can launder their dirty cash and wash it into the legitimate economy. But how can businesses and individuals safeguard themselves from being used by drug dealers, terrorists and criminals organisations making millions from the misery of others? Nicola is joined by Matt Horne, a former Deputy D...

Journalist Jane MacSorely sipped a glass of Champagne and stared at the man on the oxygen tank who had invited her to dinner. It was probably the strangest interview she'd ever done in her entire career, but it was also the beginning of a journey that would culminate in the launch of her incredible podcast 'I Am Not Nicholas'.The man in the three piece suit and sporting a bow tie was claiming to b...

Rock 'n' Roll legend Tina Turner never realised the impact her powerful ballad 'Simply The Best' was going to have on one of Northern Ireland’s most feared terrorists but when he embraced the song as his own she had to send her lawyers out in force for Mad Dog Johnny Adair. Nicola is joined by journalist Hugh Jordan to talk about the incredible story of the world famous singer and her greatest fan...

The Encrochat phone hack which has been the catalyst for the sensational arrest of Kinahan Cartel lieutenant Liam Byrne on Majorca this week has netted hundreds of criminals their cash, guns and drugs for police forces across Europe. But Ireland’s stance on the multi agency offensive described as the greatest blow to organised crime in decades has been more than curious. Despite a raft of convicti...

Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch has failed in his court bid to recoup his massive legal costs from the Regency murder trial. The Special Criminal Court has refused his application saying there was no unfairness by the State in bringing Hutch to trial over 52 days. And that although he was acquitted the court found he was involved in serious criminal conduct underlying the charges against him and that he wa...

Kinahan Cartel target Liam Byrne has networked with a host of celebrities from the world of sport in recent years managing to moonlight between days out at Ascot races and what officers say is a seedy underbelly of organised crime. With his son Lee currently dating football star Steven Gerrard’s daughter following a string of influencer girlfriends it seems the worlds of crime and celebrity merge...

A self described ‘British fascist’ has admitted that he shared terrorist documents on a Telegram channel and now faces a lengthy jail term. Gym fanatic Kristopher Kearney was arrested and extradited from Alicante in Spain where he was running the social media channel under the nickname Charlie Big Potatoes. Kearney had shared the manifestos of mass killers including Norwegian Anders Breivik and al...

Kinahan Cartel kingpin Liam Byrne has been arrested on the holiday island of Majorca after slipping home from Dubai to meet his family. The 42 year old is wanted in the UK on serious firearms and organised crime offences and will face extradition to the courts there. The arrest comes after his lengthy career at the very top of the criminal ladder and marks the final blow to the once powerful Dubli...

He is a convicted terrorist and a self professed killer involved in up to 27 murders but 'Border Fox' Dessie O’Hare is also a devoted husband who practices yoga, prays to Our Lady and meditates every day. So who is this complex character who runs one of the landings in the notorious Portlaoise Jail where he is serving a sentence for attempted kidnap and extortion and how can he manage to show to e...

It’s the sex scandal that has rocked ITV and pitted two powerful presenters against a former colleague as allegations of Phillip Schofield’s relationship with a young male he first met aged 15 have been confirmed. This week as the This Morning affair deepened Schofield insisted he committed no crime and didn’t groom the teen, only beginning a relationship with him when he was 19 years old. Former...

A tiny Iranian island known as the Pearl of the Persian Gulf has been identified as a hub for Kinahan dirty money and is where America’s Drug Enforcement Agency believe that their drug funds made their way into the hands of Hezbollah. Kish Island is part of Iran but it is also a free trade zone with lax banking practices making it attractive to the top end of organised crime. Nicola speaks to Nial...

Evidence heard during the first court appearance of seven men charged with the attempted murder of DCI John Caldwell in Tyrone last February show a complex enterprise to kill which was more personal than political. A Special sitting of Dungannon Magistrates Court this week heard how the thread between the men was that each had something against Mr Caldwell who has been investigating serious crime...

King of the Road Thomas Maher was handed down 14 years in prison when he pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and money laundering offences after messages on his phone led police and Gardai to his supply chain which transported drugs across Europe and cash into the hands of the drug dealers. But the County Offaly trucker was dealt a further blow this week when he was ordered to pay more than €720,00...

Mexican based author Ioan Grillo has worked as a crime journalist for more than 20 years in a country that is a true narco state. Over two decades interviewing drug users, hitmen, cartel bosses and the politicians who take their money, Grillo has formed a unique view on the war on drugs and all the issues around it’s failings. As a new edition of his book Blood Gun Money is published. Ioan is talk...

Gardaí have officially joined the queue in a bid to talk with Italian super cartel member Raffaele Imperiale who spent years in business with mob boss Daniel Kinahan. Officers from the Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau have formally linked up with Italy's Anti Mafia Investigation Directorate and hope to be able to use information from supergrass Imperiale in future trials. Nicola speaks with journa...